_E n& raved fy  S,> An  Sartor  Phil 


LIFE    IN    THE    ARGENTINE 

REPUBLIC   IN   THE  DAYS   OF 

THE  TYRANTS; 

OR, 

CIVILIZATION  AND  BARBARISM. 

FROM  THE  SPANISH  OF 

DOMINGO  F.  SARMIENTO,  LL.D., 

MINISTER  PLENIPOTENTIARY    FROM  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC  TO  THE  UNITED   STATES. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH  OE  THE  AUTHOE, 
BY  MRS.   HORACE   MANN. 

First  American  from  the  third  Spanish  Edition. 


NEW  YORK: 
PUBLISHED  BY  KURD  AND  HOUGHTON. 


1868. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1868,  by 

MART  MANN, 
in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  Southern  District  of  New  York. 


S3/ 


PREFACE. 


SINCE  the  translation  of  this  work  by  Colonel  Sar- 
miento  was  begun,  the  tide  of  events  has  carried  its 
author  to  the  proudest  position  before  his  country 
which  any  man  since  San  Martin,  the  hero  of  its 
independence  and  of  the  independence  of  some  of  its 
sister  Republics,  has  ever  occupied.  It  is  true  that  cir- 
cumstances of  even  a  trivial  nature,  and  still  more  fre- 
quently of  a  corrupt  nature,  often  bring  a  man  to  the 
chieftainship  of  his  country,  whether  the  office  is  elec- 
tive or  otherwise  ;  but  in  this  instance  such  circum- 
stances have  been  singularly  wanting.  Colonel  Sarmif 
ento,  after  an  absence  of  seven  years  from  his  coun-^ 
try,  without  any  political  party,  without  any  pledges  of 
policy  given  or  required,  without  any  of  the  machinery 
that  is  generally  used  to  set  in  motion  such  important 
measures,  has  by  an  almost  unanimous  movement  been 
made  the  candidate  par  excellence  for  the  Presidency! 
of  the  Argentine  Republic,  and  the  returns  are  already 

99*7 


IV  PREFACE. 

known  from  the  province  of  Buenos  Ayres,  which 
contains  one  third  of  the  population  of  the  whole 
Republic,  and  is  by  far  the  wealthiest,  most  cultivated,  1 
and  most  influential  part  of  it.  In  this  province  his 
election  has  been  complete  and  unanimous,  and  theA 
voice  of  many  other  provinces  has  long  been  heard 
through  their  daily  organs,  so  that  doubtless  before 
these  pages  see  the  light,  the  favorable  result  will  be 
confirmed.  Colonel  Sarmiento  has  resisted  all  the 
entreaties  of  his  friends  to  return  to  his  country  to  aid . 
the  interests  of  his  election.  He  has  chosen  to  wait 
until  elected  by  the  unbiassed  will  of  his  countrymen, 
—  and  for  wise  as  well  as  self-respecting  reasons.  All 
who  have  followed  the  golden  thread  of  his  life  through  ' 
the  chaotic  changes  that  have  harassed  the  life  of  the 
Republic,  so  determined  to  be  free  and  progressive,  in 
spite  of  all  the  temporary  reactions  of  the  barbaric 
element  which  has  its  seat  in  the  peculiar  composition 
of  its  society,  feel  with  him  that  it  is  only  by  apprecia- 
tion of  his  motives,  sympathy  with  his  aims,'  and  confi- 
dence in  his  ability  to  save  them  from  the  present 
threatened  anarchy,  that  he  can  have  any  assurance 
of  doing  good  from  the  high  position  now  assigned 
him.  He  has  never  flattered  his  countrymen  ;  he  has 
always  recognized  the  barbarian  tendencies  which  have 
so  often  overpowered  the  equally  persistent  but  vitally  * 
permanent  influences  of  civilization,  and  he  has  been 


PREFACE.  V 

equally  assiduous  in  his  endeavors  to  arouse  them  from 
the  apathy  inherent,  as  it  were,  in  a  Spanish  and  at 
the  same  time  priest-ridden  community ;  but  even 
Cordova,  the  "  city  of  priests,"  anchored  in  conserva- 
tism by  the  very  character  of  its  extraordinary  univer- 
sity culture,  looks  to  him  now  as  the  only  salvation  for 
the  nation. 

Although  a  man  of  decided  military  ability,  as  has 
been  proved  at  various  times  when  patriotism  has  called 
him  into  the  field,  Colonel  Sarmiento  is  eminently  a 
man  of  peace,  and  during  a  long  exile  of  twenty  years, 
as  well  as  in  his  subsequent  brilliant  career  as  Chief  of 
the  Department  of  Schools,  Senator,  Minister  of  State, 
and  Governor  of  his  native  province,  in  his  diplomatic 
missions  to  Chili,  Peru,  and  the  United  States,  has  had 
but  one  watchword  :  "  The  Education  of  the  People." 
To  his  countrymen  he  is  the  very  ideal  type  of  the 
SCHOOLMASTER,  which  he  has  eVer  considered  his 
proudest  title. 

By  persistently  keeping  this  idea  uppermost,  and  op- 
posing it  to  all  the  adverse  tendencies  of -a  community 
that  could  make  money  enough  without  it,  and  con- 
stantly predicting  the  disasters  that  would  from  time  to 
time  overwhelm  it  if  this  element'  of  freedom  were  not 
cherished  as  the  very  ark  of  its  liberties,  he1  made  an 
impression  which  in  the  hour  of  peril  ripened  quickly 
into  a  conviction,  and  to  use  an  oft-repeated  expression 


vi  PREFACE. 

of  the  daily  journals  of  the  present  period  in  South 
America,  "  his  name  surged  spontaneously  from  the 
lips  of  his  countrymen,  and  was  shouted  across  the 
Cordilleras  and  the  pampas  from  either  border,  from 
the  eastern  provinces  intelligently,  from  the  western 
as  a  cry  of  hope  born  of  despair  and  terror,  and  from 
the  interior  where  his  'beneficent  labors  have  already 
borne  fruit  and  given  birth  to  unlimited  hopes  of  the 
future."  It  is  characteristic  of  that  imaginative  and 

poetical  people  to  be  powerfully  swayed  by  a  daring 

( 

spirit,  and  a  man  must  have  self-reliance  to  kindle 
them.  Colonel  Sarmiento's  self-reliance  is  founded  in 
the  nature  of  the  principles  he  advocates ;  and  his  per- 
sonal courage  in  opposing  every  form  of  tyranny  and 
barbarism,  united  with  a  self-respect  which  has  pre- 
vented him  from  ever  asking  for  an  office  or  a  public 
favor,  now  commands  an  appreciation  which  perhaps 
his  countrymen  would  be  incapable  of  rendering  under  • 
a  less  powerful  intellectual  stimulus  than  that  given  by 
their  present  danger. 

The  stucjy  of  education  also  led  him  to  the  study  of 
legislation  at  home  and  abroad,  and  in  those -two  paths 
he  has  been  of  incalculable  benefit  to  his  country,  not 
only  convincing  its  most  advanced  men  that  public 
education  is  the  only  basis  of  a  republic,  but  aiding 
them  essentially  in  modeling  their  government  upon 
that  of  the  United  States,  which  is  their  prototype,  and 


PREFACE.  vii 

to  which  they  now  look,  rather  than  to  Europe,  for 
light  and  knowledge. 

Colonel  Sarmiento,  in  this  work  offered  to  the 
English  and  American  public,  gives  no  intimation  of 
his  personal  relations  with  the  tyrants,  but  as  his  whole 
life  and  much  of  the  life  of  the  Republic  is  connected 
with  these  relations,  it  is  proposed  to  give  a  short  ac- 
count of  its  many  "  dramatic  situations,"  incurred,  by 
his  love  and  utterance  of  truth.  These  will  be  better 
understood  after  than  before  the  perusal  of  the  main 
work.  A  complete  life  of  Colonel  Sarmiento,- with  all 
its  interesting  romantic  and  historical  episodes,  would 
fill  two  such  volumes,  but  it  is  hoped  that  enough  has 
been  left  untouched  by  the  iron  rules  of  publication  to 
make  him  known,  and  to  show  that  his  present  un- 
sought triumph  is  one  that  a  truly  great  man  may  be 
proud  of.  Constantly,  from  his  earliest  entrance  into 
life,  sacrificing  all  personal  considerations,  rather  than 
swerve  one  io*ta  from  his  principles,  or  deny  himself  the 
frank  utterance  of  his  convictions,  he  has  proved  con- 
clusively to  those  who  'have  studied  his  career,  that, 
he  is  incapable  of  any  mere  personal  ambition,  though 
no  one  appreciates  better  the  sympathy  of  his  fellow- 
men. 

It  is  the  cultivated  cities  of  the  Argentine  Republic, 
where  Europeans  find  themselves  at  home  in  all  that 
constitutes  civilized  society,  and  where  the  high  culture 


viii  PREFACE. 

of_th£_fe.JSLis  painfully  contrasted  with  the  utter  want  4 
of  it  in  the  body  of  the  people,  that  constitute  its 
difference  from  the  other  South  American  Republics, 
Chili^  jexceptfid^^in  which  certain  influences  have 
brought  about  certain  elements  of  progress,  Colonel 
Sarmiento  being  the  chief  of  these  favorable  influences. 
If  the  chances  of  elections,  or  in  this  case  rather  the 
brute  prowess  of  the  reactionary  chieftains,  has  defeated 
his  election  (which  took  place  on  the  12th  of  April), 
he  will  return  to  his  country  and  take  his  seat  in  the 
Senate,  to  which  he  has  of  late  been  again  chosen. 
He  hopes  by  his  influence  in  either  position  to  increase 
the  importance  of  his  country's  relations  with  the  * 
United  States,  whose  great  ideas  he  wishes  to  see 
planted  in  that  hemisphere.  The  sources  of  informa-  "* 
tion  from  which  the  details  of  his  life  have  been  gath* 
ered,  are  two  or  three  small  biographies,  written  in 
Chili,  Peru,  and  Geneva ;  a  short  memoir  in  Rhode 
Island,  the  public  documents  of  the  Argentine  Repub- 
lic, the  "  Journal  of  the  Sessions  of  the  Legislature," 
the  "  Journal  of  the  Constitutional  Convention,"  and 
many  periodical  works,  all  containing  remarkable 
speeches  upon  various  subjects.  The  reports  of  the 
Chilian  government  on  "  Popular  Education  "  may  be 
added  to  these,  and  a  little  book  entitled  "  Recollec- 
tions of  a  Province,"  which  is  partly  an  autobiography 
written  in  1850,  while  still  in  exile,  under  peculiar 


PREFACE.  1*X 

circumstances  best  described  in  his  own  preface  to  it. 
|JT  shall  give  as  copious  extracts  from  this  little  book  as 
my  space  will  allow,  for  it  is  impossible,  as  I  have 
proved  by  repeated  efforts,  to  convey  the  same  im- 
pression by  any  method  of  condensation  within  the 
reach  of  a  compiler,  which  is  the  only  character  in 
which  I  have  the  presumption  to  call  myself  Colonel 
Sarmiento's  biographer,  a  task  which  even  his  coun- 
trymen are  too  modest  to  assume  at  this  moment  of  so 
much  importance  to  their  interests.  My  own  interest 
in  the  subject  has  risen  both  from  a  personal  one  that 
grew  out  of  his  peculiar  relations  with  my  husband, — 
in  whose  name  Colonel  Sarmiento  introduced  the  boon 
of  Common  School  Education  into  Chili  and  the  Argen- 
tine Republic,  making  the  name  of  Horace  Mann  a 
household  word  with  all  whom  he  imbued  with  his 
own  views  upon  that  sujbject,  —  and  from  a  deep  inter- 
est  in  the  nation  whose  highest  aspirations  rather  than 
whose  actual  condition  he  represents.  I  wish  the.re- 
fore  to  place  before  the  public,  the  series  of  pictures 
that  give  it  a  marked  individuality,  and  that  have  in* 
the  course  of  a  few  years  made"  me  cognizant  of  its 
history,  so  obscured  to  the  general  eye  by  the  repeated 
reactions  it  has  suffered  since  the  days  of  its  hardly- 
won  independence. 

The  work  called  originally  "  Civilization  and  Bar- 
barism,"   but   in    the   American   translation    entitled 


X  PREFACE. 

"  Life  in  the  Argentine  Republic,"  was  written  in 
Chili,  during  the  author's  exile,  in  order  to  make 
known  there  the  policy  of  Rosas.  It  found  its  way  to 
France,  and  was  so  favorably  received  in  the  "  Revue 
des  deux  Mondes,"  that  the  influence  reacted  upon  his 
own  country,  as  well  as  gave  to  European  publicists 
an  explanation  of  the  struggle  in  the  Argentine  Re- 
public. A  work  called  "  Rosas  and  the  Questions  of 
the  La  Plata,"  and  many  other  European  publications, 
were  based  upon  its  data  and  its  standpoint.  Rosas 
felt  that  it  gave  a  mortal  blow  to  his  policy,  yet  during 
five  years  of  anathemas  hurled  at  the  author  by  the 
".Gaceta  Mercantil,"  which  was  his  organ,  the-  book 
was  not  named.  All  the  author's  books  were  pro- 
scribed, but  the  name  of  this  one  carefully  suppressed, 
yet  no  book  was  more  sought  or  more  read  in  the  Re- 
public. It  was  handed  about  secretly,  hidden  away  in 
drawers,  and  read  at  every  man's  peril. 

The  "  Revue  des  deux  Mondes  "  says  of  it :  "  During 
his  residence  in  Santiago,  which  preceded  his  travels  in 
Europe,  Senor  Sarmiento  published  this  work  full  of 
attraction  and  novelty,  instructive  as  history,  interest- 
ing as  a  romance,  brilliant  with  imagery  and  coloring. 
'  Civilization  and  Barbarism  '  is  not  only  one  of  those 
rare  testimonials  which  come  to  us  of  the  intellectual 
life  of  South  America,  but  it  is  an  invaluable  docu- 
ment. Doubtless  passion  dictated  many  of  its  vigor- 


PREFACE.  .  xi 

ous  pages,  but  even  when  exalted  by  passion,  there, 
is  internal  evidence  of  a  fund  of  impartiality  which 
cannot  fail  to  be  recognized,  and  by  whose  light  true 
characteristics  are  given  to  persons,  and  a  natural 
coloring  to  events.  .  .  .  It  is  no  less  interesting 
to  analyze  South  %than  North  America.  This  can  only 
be  done  by  the  philosopher,  the  traveller,  the  poet,  the 
historian,  the  painter  of  manners  and  customs,  the  pub- 
licist. Senor  Sarmiento  has  succeeded  in  realizing  this 
object  in  this  work,  which  he  has  published  in  Chili, 
and  which  proves  that* if  civilization  has  enemies  in 
those  regions  it  also  has  eloquent  champions." 

This  work  and  other  productions  of  his  pen,  secured 
to  Senor  Sarmiento  in  Europe,  which  he  subsequently 
visited,  the  acquaintance  of  many  prominent  men  :  M., 
Guizot,  M.  Thiers,  Cobden,  then  ambassador  in  Spain, 
Alexander  Dumas,  Gil  de  Zarate,  Breton  de  los  Her- 
reros,  Ventina  de  la  Vega,  Aribou,  and  other  literary 
Spaniards  ;  Baron  Humboldt,  and  many  others.  Pope 
Pius  IX.,  then  in  the  meridian  of  his  glory,  sent  for 
him  as  cousin  of  the  Bishops  Cuyo,  Oro,  and  Sarmi- 
ento, whom  he  had  known  in  South  America.  All 
institutions  of  education  were  thrown  open  to  his  study 
in  the  portions  of  Europe  which  he  visited,  and  to  .so 
well-prepared  a  mind,  everything  was  full  of  signifi- 
cance, even  failures,  both  educational  and  political. 
Dr.  Wappaus;  Professor  of  Geography  and  Statistics  in 


xii  PREFACE. 

the  University  of  Gottingen,  afterwards  translated  and 
published  in  German  Senor  Sarmiento's  "  Memoir 
upon  German  Emigration  to  the  La  Plata,"  and  ac- 
companied it  with  one  hundred  and  sixty-nine  pages  of 
notes  and  comments  of  his  own. 

When  R.  W.  Emerson  read  the  book,  he  told 
Colonel  Sarmiento  that  if  he  would  write  thus  for  our 
public,  he  would  be  read ;  and  Mr.  Longfellow  sug- 
gested writing  a  romantic  poem  called  the  "  Red 
Ribbon,"  which  might  be  made  as  striking  though  it 
is  to  be  hoped  an  even  more  exceptional  picture  of  the 
peculiar  customs  of  the  country  than  the  native  poet 
Echevarria's  "  Captive,"  so  descriptive  of  gaucho  life. 

Buenos  Ayres  was  founded  in  1535,  by  Don  Pedro 
Mendoza,  and  in  1536  Don  Juan  de  Aloyas,  the  lieu- 
tenant of  Mendoza,  ascended  the  Parana  and  the 
Paraguay,  which  Sebastian  Cabot  had  visited  in  1530, 
and  founded  the  city  of  Asonoption  in  memory  of  a 
victory  gained  over  the  Indians.  This  city,  now  the 
capital  of  Paraguay,  was  then  the  capital  of  the  Span- 
ish possessions  in  La  Plata.  In  1537,  while  Mendoza 
was  absent  in  Spain,  Buenos  Ayres  was  reduced  to 
the  last  extremity  by  the  Querandi  Indians.  The 
Timbues  (Indians)  destroyed  it  entirely  in  1539.  It 
was  rehabilitated  in  J542,  again  destroyed  in  1559. 
~  In  1580,  Juan  de  Garay,  lieutenant  of  the  Governor 


PREFACE.  xiii 

of  Paraguay,  descended  the  river  from  Asomption, 
and  on  the  llth  of  June  planted  the  Spanish  flag  on 
the  old  site.  He  endeavored  to  people  this  city  with 
Gruarani  Indians,  massacred  the  Querandis  who  had 
revolted  against  him,  and  died  in  1584.  Don  Francisco 
de  Zarate,  chevalier  of  the  Order  of  Santiago,  and 
governor  of  Buenos  Ayres,  confirmed  the  foundation 
of  the  city  by  an  act  of  the  10th  of  February,  1594, 
and  began  to  construct  the  fortifications  which  are  now 
seen  on  the  bank  of  the  river.  In  1620,  the  govern- 
ment of  Asomption  was  reduced  in  Paraguay^  and 
Buenos  Ayres  became  the  chief  city  of  the  second 
government  established  in  La  Plata.  In  1629,  a 
royal  decree  united  into  a  single  viceroyalty  the 
hitherto  separate  governments  of  Buenos  Ayres,  of 
Asomption,  and  the  provinces  of  Charcas,  Potosi,  and 
Cochabamba.  In  1640,  the  Portuguese  carried  their 
arms  into  the  La  Plata,  but  after  many  contests, 
stretching  over  many  years,  a  treaty  was  made  in 
1785,  by  which  the  domain  came  into  the  possession 
of  Spain  definitively. 

Until  the  eighteenth  century  there  ^was  but  one 
viceroyalty  in  South  America,  that  of  Peru,  which 
extended  from  the  western  to  the  eastern  shore,  but 
on  account  of  the  inconveniences  of  so  large  va  ter- 
ritory, Spain  created  another  in  New  Grenada  in 
1718,  a  capi.tancy  in  Caraccas  in  1734,  another  in 


xiv  PREFACE. 

Chili  at  the  same  time,  and  the  viceroyalty  of  Buenos 
Ayres,  including  the  provinces  of  Upper  Peru. 

The  viceroy  was  the  representative  of  the  King 
and  his  court,  and  he  maintained  the  pomp  and  luxury 
of  the  court  of  Madrid.  The  viceroyalty  united  the 
civil  and  military  power  with  no  other  counterpoise 
than  the  distant  dependency  of  the  Council  of  the 
Indies,  and  the  near  but  indirect  inspection  of  the 
audiencia,  a  court  of  appeal  for  all  cases  not  exceed- 
ing 10,000  dollars  in  gold.  The  viceroy  was  ex 
officio  its  president.  His  sanction,  assisted  by  an  as- 
sessor, was  necessary  to  promulgate  any  sentence. 

The  salary  of  the  viceroyalty,  GQjfiQQ  dollars  in 
gold  in  Mexico  and  Peru,  and  40,000  in  Buenos 
Ayres  and  New  Grenada,  sufficed  to  sustain  the  li^x- 
ury  prescribed  by  the  royal  ordinances.  It  generally 
lasted  five  years,  and  was  then  obliged  to  render  an 
account  of  its  administration,  and  the  viceroy  pre- 
sented himself  in  person  to  answer  to  any  charges 
made  against  him.  Other  high  functionaries  were 
obliged  to  do  the  same.  The  members  of  the  audi- 
encia were  not  paid ;  they  must  be  natives  of  Spain, 
and  could  not  form  marriage  ties  in  South  America ; 
they  were  even  recommended  not  to  contract  intimate 
social  relations  with  the  residents  of  the  country ;  but 
an  exception  was  made  in  favor  of  Creoles.  The 
officials  of  this  body  were  a  regent,  three  auditors, 


PREFACE.  XV 

and  two  fiscals,  and  they  took  command  of  everything 
but  of  declaring  war. 

The  functions  of  subdelegates  (corregidores)  were 
the  same  as  in  the  peninsula.  The  institution  of 
municipalities  was  the  best  guarantee  against  abuses, 
and  these  are  still  existent  and  of  great  import. 
Although  the  individuals  of  these  corporations  w£re 
not  elected  popularly,  they  were  considered  by  the 
people  as  their  own  representatives. 

The  ecclesiastical  hierarchy  formed  another  part  of 
the  colonial  system.  Ten  viceroys  in  succession  occu- 
pied Buenos  Ayres  from  1777  to  1806.  The  Marquis 
of  Sobremonte  was  the  King's  representative  in  1806, 
when  the  English  invaded  La  Plata.  .  The  viceroy 
abandoned  the  capital  on  the  27th  of  June  that  year, 
leaving  it  to  the  occupation  of  General  Beresford,  and 
fled  to  Cordova,  where  he  obliged  the  people  to  re- 
ceive him  with  all  the  pomp  due  to  his  rank.  The 
Governor  of  Montevideo,  Ruiz  Huidobro,  and  the 
cabildo  *  and  population  of  that  city,  prepared  to  re- 
conquer Buenos  Ayres.  While  the  expedition  was  in 

1  The  cabildo  was  a  popular  assembly  with  officials  answering  to 
mayors  and  aldermen ;  their  attributes  and  prerogatives  were  very  great, 
especially  after  the  downfall  of  the  viceroyalty.  This  form  of  govern- 
ment was  originally  taken  from  the  peninsular  government,  with  the  idea 
of  opposing  a  barrier  to  the  exactions  of  the  territorial  lords.  Rivadavia, 
when  President  in  1825,  suppressed  this  body  and  substituted  for  it  the 
municipality  which  still  exists. 


XVI  PREFACE. 

preparation,  Santiago  Liniers,  captain  of  a  vessel,  a 
Frenchman  in  the  employ  of  Spain,  arrived  at  Monte- 
video with  the  same  purpose.  The  forces  were  con- 
fided to  his  command,  and  he  retook  Buenos  Ayres  on 
the  14th  pf  August.  The  next  day  the  principal 
inhabitants  formed  themselves  into  a  junta  which 
invested  Liniers  with  the  command,  and  created  civic 
forces  to  defend  the  territory  which  was  threatened 
with  a  new  invasion.  Sobremonte  was  obliged  to 
bend  before  the  will  of  the  people.  He  confirmed 
Liniers  in  the  military  command,  delegated  his  politi- 
cal and  administrative  powers  to  4the  audiencia,  and 
retired  to  Montevideo. 

In  1807,  Sir  Samuel  Auchmuchty  with  five  thou- 
sand English  soldiers,  took  Montevideo  by  assault. 
The  cabildo  and  the  civic  corps  demanded  the  im- 
prisonment of  Sobremonte,  and  the  audiencia,  after 
resisting  for  a  time,  yielded  to  the  will  of  the  people, 
and  took  part  in  a  second  junta  which  decreed  the 
arrest  of  the  viceroy  and  the  seizure  of  his  papers. 

Another  English  force  under  General  Whitlocke, 
laid  siege  to  Buenos  Ayres,  but  was  beaten  in  the 
streets  of  the  city  on  the  3d  of  July,  capitulated,  and 
was  obliged  to  evacuate  the  whole  territory  of  La 
Plata.  The  court  of  Spain  confirmed  Liniers  in  the , 
post  of  viceroy,  and  nominated  Don  Francesco  Javier 
Elio  governor  per  interim  of  Montevideo. 


PREFACE.  xvji 

But  from  the  time  Sobromente  was  deposed,  the 
prestige  of  the  viceroyalty  was  lost,  never  to  be 
restored.  At  this  period  arose  two  rival  parties,  the 
European  and  the  American.  Ferdinand  VII.  was 
at  that  time  dethroned  ;  and  this  trouble  in  Spain, 
added  to  the  ideas  suggested  by  the  French  revolution, 
increased  the  difficulties  in  South  America.  The  1st  of 
January,  1809,  a  conspiracy,  supported  by  the  Euro- 
peans, presented  themselves  in  the  public  square  of 
Buenos  Ayres,  and  demanded  the  deposition  of  the 
viceroy  and  the  establishment  of  a  governmental  junta 
for  the  whole  viceroyalty.  This  met  with  opposition, 
of  course,  but  the  idea  of  independence  had  taken 
possession  of  the  people,  and  the  result  was  that  a 
junta  was  formed,  and  three  persons  were  put  in 
power.  After  the  fall  of  this  junta,  and  the  establish- 
ment of  other  similar  ones,  the  government  was  placed 
in  1814,  in  the  hands  of  a  single  person,  called.  Su- 
preme Director  of  the  United  Provinces  of  the  La 
Plata.  From  the  beginning  of  this  supreme  directory, 
especially  after  the  return  of  Ferdinand  VII.  to  the 
throne,  there  was  supposed  to  be  a  strong  tendency  in 
Buenos  Ayres  towards  submitting  to  the  royal  author- 
ity. But  if  this  desire  had  existed  in  any  force  among 
those  who  directed  affairs,  or  guided  public  opinion,  no 
opportunity  or  pretext  could  have  offered  more  favor- 
able to  it  than  the  incessant  solicitations  and  proposi- 


xviii  PREFACE. 

tions  of  the  Princess  Carlota,  who  asked  to  reign 
there  independently,  but  which  in  effect  were  always 
utterly  powerless  in  Buenos  Ayres.  General  Alvear, 
appointed  Director  in  1815,  had  already  made  sub- 
mission to  the  King,  but  this  reaction  caused  a  revolu- 
tion in  April,  at  the  head  of  which  stood  the  cabildo. 
fn&  assembly  was  dissolved,  and  the  Director  dis- 
placeol  and  exiled.  On  the  24th  of  March,  1816,  a 
general  congress  opened  its  sessfons  at  Tucuman.  It 
declared  the  independence  of  the  provinces  on  the  9th 
of  July,  since  observed  in  the  Republic  as  the  4th  of 
July  in  North  America,  and  Don  Juan  Martin  Puyrre- 
don  was  appointed  Director.  He  assumed  the  power 
on  the  29th  of  July.  Three  years  after,  General 
Jlondeau  was  appointed  Director  in  Puyrredon's 
place.1 

i  When  Colonel  Sarmiento  was  in  France,  in  1867,  at  the  awarding  of 
prizes  in  the  Exposition,  the  Argentine  Minister  to  France,  who  is  the 
son-in-law  of  General  San  Martin,  the  most  remarkable  Argentine  hero 
of  independence,  gave  an  official  banquet  to  the  legation,  on  which  occa- 
sion Colonel  Sarmiento  had  the  pleasure  of  relating  an  historic  fact,  until 
then  unknown,  namely :  that  General  San  Martin,  by  his  counsels  to  the 
Congress  of  Tucuman  in  1816,  at  which  time  Independence  was  declared, 
was  the  moving  spirit  of  that  act  of  the  Congress,  for  which  the  Deputies 
were  not  at  that  time  prepared.  To  Colonel  Sarmiento,  also,  the  public  is 
indebted  for  the  details  of  the  famous  interview  between  San  Martin  and 
Bolivar  in  Guayaquil,  which  resulted  in  San  Martin's  noble  self-abnega- 
tion and  renunciation,  not  only  of  his  place  in  the  activity  of  that  period, 
but  in  the  lifelong  misunderstanding  of  his  contemporaries,  all  of  which 
Colonel  Sarmiento  took  from  the  lips  of  the  grand  old  man  when  he 


PREFACE.  xix 

In  the  mean  time,  the  province  of  Montevideo  had 
rebelled,  and  the  place  had  been  ta^en  by  General 
Alvear  on  the  23d  of  June,  1814.  General  Artigas, 
one  of  the  country  commandants,  who  cooperated  in 
the  siege,  had  early  given  tokens  of  insubordination, 
and  General  Alvear  undertook  to  pursue  him  with  the, 
forces  that  had  occupied  Montevideo.  Master  of  the 
Banda  Oriental,  and  of  all  its  resources,  Artigafc  dis- 
played his  resentment  towards  Buenos  Ayres.  He 
not  only  took  the  Oriental  province  from  the  Argen- 
tine community,  but  his  personal  influence  and  that  of- 
his  system,  extended  over  Corrientes,  Entrerios,  Santa;' 
Fe*,  and  Cordova.  No  treaties  were  accepted  by 
'  either  side.  One  of  the  effects  of  his  influence  was 
the  invasion  of  the  province  of  Buenos  Ayres  by  the 
troops  of  Santa  F6  and  Entrerios,  and  in  February 
1820,  the  Director  Rondeau  was  beaten  at  La  Canada 
de  Cepeda.  The  conquerors  entered  Buenos  Ayres 
with  their  troops,  dissolved  the  Congress  and  the  Di- 
rectory, and  reduced  its  power  to  Buenos  Ayres  alone. 
Some  authors,  in  speaking  of  the  revolution  of  1810, 
have  attributed  to  the  landed  proprietors  considered  as 
a  class,  an  influence,  an  ambition,  and  political  views 
which  never  had  an  existence.  They  declared  them- 

visited  him  in  his  self-imposed  exile  at  Grandbourg  in  France,  in  1846. 
Party  passions  had  obscured  the  subject  till  that  revelation  was  made 
from  so  authentic  a  source. 


xx  PREFACE. 

selves  for  their  country,  as  many  other  classes  did, 
purely  from  a  sentiment  of  patriotism,   and  nothing 
more.     During  the  first  ten  years  of  the  revolution, 
when  the  existence  of  the  Federal  and  Unitario  par- 
*  ties  was  an  old  story,  the    rural  districts  of  most  of 
the  provinces,  and  that  of  Buenos  Ayres  particularly, 
'were  indifferent  and  even  strangers  to  those  questions 
and  those  parties.     That  multitude  of  changes  in  the 
-government  which  Jook  place  in  the  cities  in  favor  of 
one   or  the  other  party,  were  of  no   importance    or 
interest  in  the  campagna.     It  was  not  till  1815  that  it 
was  called  upon  to  give  its   opinion,  conjointly  with 
that  of  the  city,  not  only  upon  the  validity  of  a  gov- 
ernment, but   even  upon  the  proposed   reform  of  a 
provisory  State,  which  was  never  realized.     The  rural 
districts  never  made  a  movement  which  revealed   ^ 
political  ideaj  and  they  never  misunderstood^  any  gov- 
ernment.    It  is  true  that  the  gauchos,  a  peculiar  race 
of  men  that  is  seen  in  the  pampas,  and  holds  a  middle 
place  between  the  European  and  the  aboriginal  inhab- 
itant, followed  certain  partisans  of  that  epoch,  but  it 
was  because  those  partisans  were  the  immediate  au- 
thority which  they  recognized ;    they  followed  them 
from   personal   affection   and   from  the  habit  of  obe- 
dience, but  from  no  political  conviction,  nor  from  any 
desire  to  make  any  system  prevail  for  their  interest  as 
a  class.      The  chieftainship  (caudillage)  did  not  ap- 


PREFACE.  XXI 

pear  till  1829.  The  rural  districts,  passively  obedient, 
knew  neither  "  Unitarian  ism  "  nor  "  Federalism."  If 
the  Congress  of  1826  had  proclaimed  a  federation,  the 
chiefs  that  then  represented  the  federation  would  ha.ve 
cried  unity ;  the  opposition  was  against  men,  not 
against  things,  which  were  but  a  pretext. 

In  1820,  in  the  absence  of  the  Governor  of  the 
Province,  Don  Manuel  Dorrego,  who  had  offended  and 
gone  to  fight  the  Governor  of  Sante  Fe,  Don  Martin 
Rodriguez  was  put  in  his  place.  The  cabildo  pro- 
tested against  this  ;  the  city  was  thrown  into  agita- 
tion, and  Rodriguez  had  to  flee  to  the  country.  He 
-returned  to  the  city  with  Juan  Manuel  Rosas,  com- 
mander of  the  militia  or  country  forces,  called  the 
Colorados  (or  red  soldiers)  of  La  Conchas  —  a  man  of 
a  Buenos  Ayres  family,  but  who,  rejecting  education, 
had  gone  into  the  country  to  enjoy  more  license  for  his 
vices  than  the  customs  of  the  city  would  allow.  By 
the  help  of  Rosas,  Rodriguez  was  reestablished.  Hap- 
pily, Rodriguez  chose  Rivadavia  for  his  prime  minis- 
ter, and  the  country  appeared  to  breathe  a  free  br&ath 
under  the  wise  and  enlightened  administration  of  this 
truly  great  man. 

When  the  Revolution  of  Independence  began,  the 
grand  fractions  of  the  viceroyalty,  now  its  separate 
States,  proposed  to  separate  and  form  private  govern- 
ments. When  the  struggle  with  Spain  ended,  this  was 


xxii  PREFACE. 

effected.  Rivadavia,  who  was  the  chief  of  the  Uni- 
tarios,  began  by  introducing  into  Buenos  Ayres  the 
complete  system  of  a  Republic  for  this  province  alone, 
with  legislature,  government,  revenues,  etc.,  like  the 
North  American  States,  and  advised  the  other  prov- 
inces to  do  the  same,  each  for  itself.  This  was  Uni- 
tarianism.  The  foundations  of  federal  system  were 
thus  unconsciously  laid  by  the  Unitarios  themselves, 
though  at  that  time  they  opposed  federation.  What 
Rivadavia  wished  at  that  moment  was  to  give  to  the 
actual  governments  regular  form ;  but  he,  San  Martin 
and  Bolivar,  had  the  same  horror  of  the  idea  of  federa- 
tion that  the  French  had  in  the  time  of  the  Girondines. 
Rodriguez  was  succeeded  in  1824  by  General  Don 
Juan  Gregorio  las  Heras.  Under  his  administration  a 
general  Congress  was  convoked,  which  created  a  gen- 
eral government  under  a  President,  independent  of  the 
government  of  Buenos  Ayres.  The  seat  of  both  the 
provincial  and  general  governments  was  the  city  of 
Buenos  Ayres,  and  grave  inconveniences  were  the 
consequence.  The  provincial  government  and  its  rep- 
resentatives were  dissolved,  and  Rivadavia  was  made 
..President-General  on  the  8th  of  February,  1826.  He 
kept  that  office  but  one  year.  The  opposition  to  him 
*  in  Congress  was  in  the  majority,  and  he  resigned.  Dr. 
Dt>n,  Vicente  Lopez  was  put  in  his  place.  When  Con- 
gress dissolved,  the  representatives,  the  majority  of 


PREFACE.  xxiii 

whom  were  Federals,  nominated  Don  Manuel  Dorrego, 
who  began  to  rule  in  August,  1827.  He  was  driven  out 
by  Juan  Lavalle  in  December  of  this  year.  Dorrego 
fled  to  the  country,  but  was  beaten  and  shot  by  La- 
valle.  Rosas,  partisan  of  Dorrego,  fled  to  Santa  F£, 
from  whence  he  returned  with  Lopez,  jts  governor. 
Lavalle  was  beaten  by  Lopez^  at  the^Puente  del  Mar- 
ques, in  1828.  Don  J.  Jose*  Viemont  was  appointed 
Governor,  and  in  1829  was  succeeded  by  Rosas.  The 
Unitari9  forces,  who,  with  their  leaders,  had  emigrated 
from  Buenos  Ayres,  occupied  the  Province  of  Cor- 
doba, under  the  orders  of  General  Paz,  who  was 
caught  by  a  lasso  at  the  head  of  his  army,  and  thus 
made  prisoner.  Facundo  Quiroga  triumphed  over 
Castillo,  another  Unitario  chief,  and  this  was  the  Occa- 
sion of  his  appearing  on  the  general  scene  of  ^action. 
He  was  the  most  celebrated  of  all  those  chiefs,  repre- 
senting no  party,  but  a  gaucho  of  gauchos ;  his  char- 
acteristics brought  him  an  influence,  baleful  though  it 
was,  which  made  him  aspire  to  the  first  place  in  the 
Republic.  Rosas,  whose  most  distinguishing  traits 
were  his  atrocious  cruelty  and  malice,  was  jealous  of 
him,  and  caused  his  assassination  at  Barranca-yaco. 
All  the  accomplices  of  the  crime  were  subsequently  ar- 
rested and  executed.  Lopez  died  soon  after  under  cir- 
cumstances that  pointed  almost  unmistakably  to  poison. 
Cullen,  Governor  of  Santa  Fe*,  who  had  bathed  his 


XXIV  PREFACE. 

hands  in  the  conspiracy  against  Quiroga,  and  who  had 
letters  in  his  possession  that  would  have  compromised 
Rosas,  was  shot  by  Rosas'  order  at  the  Arroyo  del 
Medio,  a  little  river  between  the  Provinces  of  Buenos 
Ayres  and  Santa  Fe,  to  which  place  he  was  trans- 
ported for  that  purpose.  The  character  of  Rosas  was 
as  stupidly  misunderstood  abroad,  at  the  time  of  his 
supremacy,  as  that  of  Lopez  of  Paraguay  at  the  pres- 
ent time.  Wheg.  he  was  appointed  Governor  by  the 
Congress,  he  was  crowned  by  the  women  ;  the  city 
x  was  illuminated,  bands  of  music  paraded,  the  people 
were  in  a  state  of  exultation,  and  the  universal  cry 
was  "  Death  to  the  Unitarios  !  "  On  the  18th  day 
of  the  same  month  the  House  of  Representatives,  "  in 
order  to  reward  the  worthy  citizen,  Don  Juan  Manuel 
Rosas,  and  his  country  companions,  for  having  stifled 
the  scandalous  military  insurrection  of  the  lst_of  De- 
cember, 1828,"  voted  for  a  law  declaring  all  publica- 
tions printed  since  the  1st  of  December,  1828,  against 
the  former  governor,  Dorrego,  or  Colonel  Rosas,  or 
'the  provincial  governors  and  respectable  patriots  who 
had  served  the  cause  of  order,  to  be  infamous  libels, 
and  ^graceful  to  public  morals  and  honor.  It  also 
declared  him  "  the  restorer  of  the  laws  and  insti- 
tutions of  the  Province  of  Buenos  Ayres.  The 
rank  of  Brigadier-General  of  this  province  shall  be 
given  him,  and  the  legislature  charges  itself  with 


PREFACE.  -  XXV      . 

making  him  known  in  this  character  throughout  ^he 
Republic.     He  shall  be  decorated  with  a  sword  and  a» 
golden  medal  ornamented  with  the  symbols  of  law, 
justice,  and  courage ;   the  medal  shall   be  garnished 

N 

with  brilliants  on  one  side,  and  shall  have  a  crown  of 
laurels  and  an  olive  branch  as  an  emblem  of  gratitude, 
with  these  words  :  Buenos  Ayres  to  the  Restorer  of  the 
Laws.  The  reverse  shall  have  his  bust  in  cement,  with  . 
utensils  of  agriculture  and  trophies  of  war,  and  the 
device  :  He  cultivated  his  fields  and  defended  his  coun- 
try." 

But  their  hopes  were  sadly  disappointed.  For  more 
than  twenty  years  he  held  them  in  abject  terror,  such 
as  Colonel  Sarmiento  has  described.  The  rigor  of  his 
rule  deceived  the  world,  which  gives  the  meed  to'suc- 
cess  rather  than  to  merit.  When  Celonel  Sarmiento 
visited  the  United  States  in  1847,  and  saw  the  work-'  • 
ing  of  federal  institutions,  his  views  of  government 
underwent  a  great  change.  He  had  been  a  Unitario 
from  education,  and  antagonism  of  ideas  to  Rosas 'and 
the  caudilloS)  or  country  chiefs,  and  'from  1827  had 
taken  arms  against  the  Federal  party,  which  was  iden- 
tified with  them.  Forty  years  of  separation  of  the 
provinces,  during  which  each  had  had  its  own  govern- 
ment, had  broken  every  national  tie,  and  they  could 
not  easily  unite  under  a  federal  government,  such  as  ^ t 
the  caudillos  had  proposed  in  opposition  to  Rivadavia. 


-  XXVI  *  PREFACE. 

*  Rosas  had  continued  to  triumph  over  all  the  forces 
"which  the  Republic  had  united  to  free  itself  from  his 

"horrible  tyranny,  and  the  Unitario  chiefs  and  emigrants 
.  were  driven  into  Montevideo,  where  Rosas  besieged 
them*.     In  1848,  while  still  in  Chili,  Colonel  Sarmiento 
i  established  a  periodical  called  "  The  Cronica,"  and  ad- 
;   vocated  a  federal  government,  like  that  of  the  United 
,  Stales,  as  the  only  means  of  continuing  the  Republic. 
In   this   manner   he    could   attract  the   provinces   to 
their  party,  accepting  the  federation,  which  existed,  in 
fact.     After  he  had  established  that  semi-annual  peri- 
odical, he  founded  another  weekly  one,  called  "  Sud 
Amercia,"  which  lasted  till  1850,  in  which  he  unfolded 
the  constituent  principles  of  federation,  and  promoted 
the  free  navigation  of  the  rivers  in  order  to  give  sea- 
ports to  the  provinces.     Another  object  of  it  was  to 
encourage  emigration.     His  .endeavors  were  crowned 
with  the  most  complete  success.     In  1850,  he  wrote  a 
-  pamphlet  proposing  a  Congress,  and  preparing  the  way 
to  fp^m  a  union  and  alliance  of  the  Unitario  chiefs  and 
the  Federal  caudillos.    This  pamphlet  was  called  "  Ar- 
,  giropolis,"  and  his  plan  was  to  found  another  capital 
in  the  island  of  Martin  Crarcia.     This  pamphlet  was 
very  effective,  and  ruined  Rosas  among  his  own  sup- 
porters.   Bompland,  the  celebrated  naturalist,  the  com- 
panion of  Humboldt,  presented  himself  before  Urquiza, 
the  principal  chieftain  under  Rosas,  and  refused  o'bedi- 


PREFACE.  XXVn 

ence  to  the  latter,  and  proposed  a  federaL  constitution 
and  the  alliance  of  the  Unitarios,  who  had  collected  for 
mutual  defense  at  Montevideo.  This  plan  was  ac- 
cepted. Colonel  Sarmiento,  the  present  President 
Mitre*,  and  General  Paunero,  now  candidate  for  the 
Vice-Presidency,  left  Chili  'and  went  to  Buenos  Ayres, 
round  Cape  Horn,  to  join  Urquiza.  They  conquered 
Rosas  at  Caseros.  Thus  the  Unitarian  party  itself 
agreed  to  give  the  country  a  federal  constitution. 
Colonel  Sarmiento  began  the  movement  alone,  but 
was  finally  joined  by  his  friends.  But  General  Ur- 
quiza proved  incapable,  through  his  ignorance  and  his 
gaucho  habits,  of  comprehending  the  significance  of 
the  thing  he  had  done  himself,  and  endeavored  to  con- 
tinue the  old  arbitrary  rule.  The  biographical  sketch 
•  in  this  volume  recounts  the  self-banishment  of  Colonel 
Sarmiento  at  this  time,  and  his  subsequent  return  and 
labors  in  the  Province  of  Buenos  Ayres  in  a  private 
capacity.  Buenos  Ayres  succeeded  in  resisting  Ur- 
quiza at  this  time,  and  constituted  itself  again  va 
separate  State  while  Urquiza  governed  the  provinces. 
When  Colonel  Sarmiento  was  elected  Deputy  to  the 
legislature  of  Buenos  Ayres,  before  his  release  from 
Chili  in  1855,  he  refused  the  office,  and  addressed  a 
letter  to  the  electors,  reproaching  them  for  having 
separated  from  the  Republic.  He  was  then  appointed 

w 

Deputy  from  Tucuman,  and  refused  that  also,  because 


XXV111  PREFACE. 

Tucuman  had  constituted  itself  independent  of  Buenos 
Ayres.  When  he  went  to  Buenos  Ayres  in  1856,  all 
his  efforts  and  writings  had  for  their  object  the  Union. 
His  oration  at  that  time  over  the  ashes  of  Rivadavia, 
which  he  gave  at  the  request  of  the  municipality  when 
they  we^e  received  from  Europe  at  the  port  of  Buenos 
Ayres,  was  an  appeal  to  the  national  sentiment  for 
this  Union.  In  1859,  the  Convention,  called  at  the  in- 
stigation of  himself  and  friends,  met  at  Buenos  Ayres 
to  amend  the  Constitution,  and  Colonel  Sarmiento  pro- 
posed such  amendments  as  made  it  resemble  that  of 
the  United  States,  and  in  the  National  Convention  was 
chiefly  instrumental  in  ratifying  these  and  bringing 
about  the  Union  which  now  exists. 

When  Governor  of  San  Juan,  he  labored  to  amend 
the  State  government,  but  was  opposed  by  his  Uni- 
tario  friends,,  who  feared  that  he  would  give  the  prov- 
inces loo  much  power.  The  disastrous  history  of 
the  last  few  years  has  proved  that  he  was  in  the  right, 
and  his  countrymen,  by  the  light  of  the  conflagration 
of  civil  war,  have  at  last  seen  that  he  was  their  best 
guide,  and  *the  only  prominent  man  that  has  clearly 
mastered  the  situation.  Their  wild  cry  of  agony  now 
summons  him  to  their  aid. 
4  MARY  MANN. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PHYSICAL   CONTENTS  OF   THE   REPUBLIC. 

PAGE 

Physical  Conditions 3,  4 

Rivers  without  Commerce 5 

An  Unbroken  Country 7 

The  Rule  of  the  Strongest 9 

Native  Indolence 11 

Civilization  by  Cities 13 

American  Bedouins .15 

Social  Aspects 17 

Religious  Aspects          . .19 

Gaucho  Traits 21 

Sources  of  Wealth >      23 

CHAPTER  II. 

ORIGINALITY  AND   PECULIARITIES   OF  THE  PEOPLE. 

Poetic  Character 25-29 

Musical  Character         .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .  29-31 

Rastreador,  the  Track-Finder 32-35 

Baqueano,  or  Path-Finder 35-39 

The  Gaucho  Outlaw .        .     '   .  39-41 

The  Cantor,  or  Minstrel .        .  41-45 

*          -» 

CHAPTER  III. 

ASSOCIATION. 

Pastoral  Society 47 

The  Gaucho's  Knife 49, 

A  Centaur  Sovereignty •  .  51 

The  Country  Commandant •  .        53 

The  Montonera       .  .....  ...    55 


XXX  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

THE   REVOLUTION  OF   1810. 

PAGE 

The  Beginning  of  the  Revolution .57 

The  Middle  Party 59 

The  Montonera's  Savagery    .  .    61 

The  Violent  Death  of  Cities 63 

Rioja 64-66 

San  Juan    .  67-70 

The  Rodriguez 71 

CHAPTER  V. 

LIFE  OF  FACUNDO  QUIROGA. 

His  Infancy  and  Youth 73 

The  Tiger 75 

Quiroga's  Education 77 

Habits  of  Life 79 

The  Gaucho's  Revenge  ' 81 

Rebellious  ^Spirit 82 

Domestic  Character 83 

Facundo  in  Prison 85 

Characteristics 87 

Facundo  as  a  Diviner 89 

CHAPTER  VI. 

LA  RIOJA. 

Feud  between  Ocampos  and  Davilas 93 

Facundo  as  Commandant          • 97 

Davila  made  Governor         .                99 

Blanco  made  Governor     . 101 

Facundo  as  Financier           .........  103 

Facundo's  Avarice 105 

Mining  Fever 107 

Gambling 109 

Consequences  of  Facundo's  Government Ill 

CHAPTER  VII. 

SOCIAL    LIFE. 

Transition  Period 113 

Cordova    114-120 

Buenos  Ayres 121-127 

Unitarios 128 


CONTENTS.  XXXI 

PAOE 

The  Two  Parties.    Progress  and  Reaction 129 

Consolidation  Inevitable 131 

Facundo's  Individuality •  132 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

EXPERIMENTS. 

Congress 134 

Colonel  Madrid's  Mission 135 

Significance  of  the  Color  "  Red  "          .......  137 

Effects  of  Freedom  of  Thought        .        .        ...        .        .  139 

The  Red  Ribbon .141 

Facundo  and  the  Federals 143 

Toleration ..144 

The  Black  Flag 145 

The  Catholic  Party  and  Religion 147 

An  Easy  Way  of  Paying  Debts .  149 

Rivadavia  Resigns 151 

CHAPTER  IX. 

CIVIL,  WAR.      TABLADA. 

Dorrego  and  the  Unitarios 153-155 

The  Execution  of  Dorrego  by  Lavalle 157 

The  Coming  Campaign 159 

Battle  of  Tablada 160 

Tablada  and  Cordova 161 

General  Paz 163 

Liberal  Element  in  Cordova 165 

Treaty  of  Lopez  of  Santa  Fe 167 

CHAPTER  X. 

CIVIL  WAR. 

The  Murderer  Barcena 169 

The  Story  of  Severa  Villafane 171 

Ransoms 173 

Terror 174 

A  Spark  of  Humanity 175 

Oncativo 177 

CHAPTER  XI. 

SOCIAL  WAR. 

Chacon 179 

Buenos  Ayres  in  1840        .        . 181 


XXXll  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Capture  qf  Rio  Quarto .        .183 

Castillo's  Blunders 185 

Castillo's  Civilizing  Work 187 

Introduction  of  the  Silk-Worm 189 

Facundo  at  his  Old  Ways    .        . .191 

Death  of  Villafane 192 

Navarro         ............    193 

Villafane    , 195 

Facundo's  Discipline 197 

Terror  a  Power 199 

CHAPTER  XII. 

SOCIAL  WAR. 

Ciudadela .        .        .201 

Tucuman 202 

Facundo's  Cruelty 209 

Tyranny 211 

River  Navigation 213 

Persecution        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        214 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

BARRANCA- YACO ! !  ! 

Idea  of  Government      .        .        .        .        .        .        .      '  .        .        .216 

Rosas  Governor  of  Buenos  Ayres 219 

Rosas  and  Facundo 221 

Facundo  at  Buenos  Ayres         . 223 

Facundo's  New  Plans 225 

Facundo's  Secret  Opposition  to  Rosas 227 

Facundo's  Presentiments 229 

Facundo's  Obstinacy         .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .  231 

Facundo's  Individuality 233 

Facundo's  Death 234 

Santos  Perez         ...........  235 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

FRIAR  JOSE  FELIX  ALDAO,   BRIGADIER-GENERAL  AND   GOVERNOR. 

Lieutenant  Jose"  Aldao .        .  237 

The  Catholic  Party  and  Religioa 239 

Aldao  Captain  under  San  Martin 241 

Aldao  at  Mendoza     . 243 

The  Aldao  Triumvirate  .  245 


CONTENTS.  XXX111 

PAGE 

Future  Destiny  of  the  Republic 247 

Barcala,  the  Educated  Slave 249 

Facundo's  Palace 251 

Tablada 253 

El  Filar 255 

Aldao  and  Facundo 259 

Petition  of  Mendoza ,261 

General  Paz  Lassoed 261 

Card-playing 263 

Rodriguez  the  Soldier .265 

Brizuela 266 

Acha 267 

Rodeo  del  Medio 269 

Aldao's  Harem 271 

Death  of  Aldao 273 

What  Mendoza  gained  from  Aldao's  Government       ....  274 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH  OF  THE  AUTHOR. 

Genealogy 276 

Don  Jose"  de  Oro 277 

Preface  to  the  Recollections  of  a  Province 279 

The  History  of  my  Mother 280 

Vision  of  his  Mother's  Death 281 

Don  Jose"  Castro 284 

Characteristics  of  "  My  Mother  " 285 

"My  Father" 287 

The  Fiesta  of  St.  Peter 289 

The  Paternal  Hearth 290 

The  Homestead .  291 

Home  Influences 293 

La  Toribia  and  Na  Cleme 294 

Colonial  Life .295 

Works  of  Art        ; 297 

The  Sentence  of  Saints  and  Fig-tree 299 

Changes 300 

Early  Education 301 

Boyish  Tastes 303 

War  of  1810 305 

School  of  La  Patria 306 

Don  Ignacio  Rodriguez     .........  307 

Don  Antonio  Aberastain                                309 


XXXIV  CONTEXTS. 

PAGE 

Sarmiento  School -  .  .  .  .  309-314 

Education  after  leaving  School 315 

Readings 317 

Public  Life  318-321 

Heroic  Enthusiasm  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  321 

Perils  of  Civil  War 322 

_  The  Mastery  of  Languages 323 

Mayorflomo  of  Copiapo  Mines  ........  324 

A  Community  of  Students 325 

Progress  of  Mind 326 

'LaZonda 327 

Political  Difficulties 328 

Interview  with  Benavides 329 

Second  Summons  from  Benavides 330 

,  Reasoning  with  an  Ignorant  Tyrant  .' 331 

Official  Force  in  San  Juan 332 

Arrest  by  Benavides  ; 333 

Seventeenth  of  November 333 

Face  to  Face  with  Death 335 

In  Prison 337 

,  Exile 339 

Literary  Labor  in  Chili 340,  341 

Rout  of  La  Madrid's  Army 343 

Fugitives  in  the  Mountains 344,  345 

Second  Exile 345 

'  Resumption  of  Literary  Labors  in  Chili 346 

Normal  School  in  Chili 347,  348 

Editor  of  Periodicals 349 

Trials  in  Chili 350-352 

Biographies 352 

^—European  Tour  ' 353 

Interview  with  Cobden 354-357 

Acquaintance  with  Mr.  Horace  Mann 357 

jLa  Cronica  and  other  Writings 358 

Return  to  Buenos  Ayres  and  Conquest  over  Rosas  ....  359 

Voluntary  Exile  to  Chili 359 

•More  Literary  Labors 360 

Residence  in  Buenos  Ayres 360 

Letter  to  Juana  Manso 361 

Senator 362 

Cepeda 363 

Eighth  of  November 364 

Conventions  to  Reform  Constitution  —  Debates  of  Congress  .  .  365 


CONTENTS.  XXXV 

PAGE 

Minister  and  Chief  of  Staff—  Eight  Years  of  Educational  Labor        .  367 

Educational  Works 368 

Political  and  Moral  Influence 369 

Land  Surveys 371 

Chivilcoi 372 

Isles  of  the  Parana 373,374 

Railroad  from  San  Fernando  to  Buenos  Ayres 375 

Benavides,  Rosas,  Urquiza        ........  375  •• 

Virasero  —  Death  of  Dr.  Aberastain 376 

Battle  of  Pavon  —  Reception  at  San  Juan 377 

Made  Governor  of  San  Juan 378 

Sarmiento  School 379 

Mining  Interests 380,  381 

ElChacho 382 

Clavero 384 

Diplomatic  Missions 385> 

Admiral  Pinzon— Chincha  Islands  386 

Disinterested  Political  Action 387 

South  American  Congress 387 

Remarkable  Predictions 388,  389 

Writings  in  North  America 389,  390 

Ambas  Americas 391 

La  Seiiora  Juana  Manso 392 

French  Exposition 393 

Men  of  South  America 393 

Appreciation  by  his  Countrymen 395 

Appendix 297 


LIFE    IN    THE    ARGENTINE    REPUBLIC. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PHYSICAL  ASPECT  OF  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC,  AND 
THE  FORMS  OF  CHARACTER,  HABITS,  AND  IDEAS  INDUCED 
BY  IT. 

"  The  extent  of  the  Pampas  is  so  prodigious  that  they  are  hounded  on  the  north 
by  groves  of  palm-trees  and  on  the  south  by  eternal  snows."  —  Head. 

THE  Continent  of  America  ends  at  the  south  in  a 
point,  with  the  Strait  of  Magellan  at  its  southern  ex- 
tremity. Upon  the  west,  the  Chilian  Andes  run  par- 
allel to  the  coast  at  a  short  distance  from  the  Pacific. 
Between  that  range  of  mountains  and  the  Atlantic  is 
a  country  whose  boundary  follows  the  River  Plata  up 
the  course  of  the  Uruguay  into  the  interior,  which  was 
formerly  known  as  the  United  Provinces  of  the  River 
Plata,  but  where  blood  is  still  shed  to  determine 
whether  its  name  shall  be  the  Argentine  Republic  or 
the  Argentine  Confederation.  On  the  north  lie  Para- 
guay, the  Gran  Chaco,  and  Bolivia,  its  assumed  boun- 
daries. 

The  vast  tract  which  occupies  its  extremities  is  alto- 
gether uninhabited,  and  possesses  navigable  rivers  as 
yet  unfurrowed  even  by  a  frail  canoe.  Its  own  extent 
1 


2  LIFE  IX   THE   ARGENTINE   REPUBLIC. 

is  the  evil  from  which  the  Argentine  Republic  suffers  ; 
the  desert  encompasses  it  on  every  side  and  penetrates 
its  ver^  heart ;  wastes  containing  no  human  dwelling, 
(are,  generally  speaking,  the  unmistakable  bounda- 
ries between  its  several  provinces.  Immensity  is  the 
universal  characteristic^. Jthfi-couiiiry,;.  the  plains,  the 
woods,  the  rivers,  are  all  immense  ;  and  the  horizon 
is  always  undefined,  always  lost  in  haze  and  delicate 
vapors  which  forbid  the  eye  to  mark  the  point  in  the 
distant  perspective,  where  the  land  ends  and  the  sky 
begins.  On  the  south  and  on  the  north  are  savages 
,ever  on  the  watch,  who  take  advantage  of  the  moonlight 
nights  to  fall  like  packs  of  hyenas  upon  the  herds  in 
their  pastures,  and  upon  the  defenseless  settlements. 
When  the  solitary  caravan  of  wagons,  as  it  sluggishly 
traverses, the  pampas,  halts  for  a  short  period  of  rest,  the 
men  in  cnarge  of  it,  grouped  around  their  scanty  fire, 
turn  their  eyes  mechanically  toward  the  south  upon  the 
faintest  whisper  of  the  wind  among  the  dry  grass,  and 
gaze  into  the  deep  darkness  of  the  night,  in  search  of 
the  sinister  visages  of  the  savage  horde,  which,  at  any 
moment,  approaching  unperceived,  may  surprise  them. 
If  no  sound  reaches  their  ears,  if  their  sight  fails  to 
pierce  the  gloomy  veil  which  covers  the  silent  wilder- 
ness, they  direct  their  eyes,  before  entirely  dismissing 
their  apprehensions,  to  the  ears  of  any  horse  standing 
within  the  firelight,  to  see  if  they  are  pricked  up  or 
turned  carelessly  backwards.  Then  they  resume  their 
interrupted  conversation,  or  put  into  their  mouths  the 
half-scorched  pieces  of  dried  beef  on  which  they  subsist. 
When  not  fearful  of  the  approach  of  the  savage,  the 


PHYSICAL   CONDITIONS.  3 

plainsman  has  equal  cause  to  dread  the  keen  eyes  of  the 
tiger,  or  the  viper  beneath  his  feet.  This  constantjnjse- 
^^yjjLJjfe  outsit  t-hg- towns,  .in  my  opinion,  stamps 
upon  the  Argentine  character  a  certain  stojcaj^esig- 
natkm  to  death  by  violence,  which  is  regarded  as  one 
of  the  inevitable  probabilities  of  existence.  Perhaps 
this  is  the  reason  why  they  inflict  death  or  submit  to  it 
with  so  much  indifference,  and  why  such  events  make 
no  deep  or  lasting  impression  upon  the  survivors. 

The  inhabited  portion  of  this  country  —  a  country 
unusually  favored  by  nature,  and  embracing  all  varie- 
ties of  climates  —  may  be  divided  into  three  sections""^ 
possessing  distinct  characteristics,  which  cause  differ-  '  I 
ences  of  character  among  the  inhabitants,  growing  out    / 
of  the  necessity  of  their  adapting  themselves  to  xthe , 
physical  conditions  which  surround  them.  , 

In  the__northj  an  extensive  forest,  reaching  to  the 
Chaco,  covers  with  its  impenetrable  mass  of  boughs  a 
space  whose  extent  would  seem  incredible  if  there  could 
be  any  marvel  too  great  for  the  colossal  types  of  Nature 
in  America. 

In  the  centraLzone,  lying  parallel  to  the  former,  the 
plain  and  the  forest  long  contend  with  each  other  for 
the  possession  of  the  soil ;  the  trees  prevail  for  some 
distance,  but  gradually  dwindle  into  stunted  and  thorny 
bushes,  only  reappearing  in  belts  of  forest  along  the 
banks  of  the  streams,  until  finally  in  the  south,  the  vic- 
tory remains  with  the  plain,  which  displays  its  smooth, 
velvet-like  surface  unbounded  and  unbroken.  It  is  the 
image  of  the  sea  upon  the  land  ;  the  earth  as  it  appears 
upon  the  map  — the  earth  yet  waiting  for  the  command 


4  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

to  bring  forth  every  herb  yielding  seed  after  its  kind. 
We  may  indicate,  as  a  noteworthy  feature  in  the  con- 
figuration of  this  country,  the  aggregation  of  navigable^, 
rivers,  which  come  together  in  the  east,  from  all  points  K 
of  the  horizon,  to  form  the  Plata  by  their  union,  and 
thus  worthily  to  present  their  mighty  tribute  to  the 
Ocean,  which  receives  it,  not  without  visible  marks  of 
disturbance  and  respect.  But  these  immense  canals, 
excavated  by  the  careful  hand  of  Nature,  introduce  no 
change  into  the  national  customs.  The  sons  of  the 
Spanish  adventurers  who  colonized  the  country  hate 
to  travel  by  water,  feeling  themselves  imprisoned  when 
within  the  narrow  limits  of  a  boat  or  a  pinnace.  When 
their  path  is  crossed  by  a  great  river,  they  strip  them- 
selves unconcernedly,  prepare  their  horses  for  swim- 
ming, anH  plunging  in,  make  for  some  island  visibledn 
the  distance,  where  horse  and  horseman  take  breath, 
and  by  thus  continuing  their  course  from  isle  to  isle, 
finally  effect  their  crossing. 

Thus  is  the  greatest  blessing  which  Providence 
.bestows  upon  any  people  disdained  by  the  Argentine 
gaucho,  who  regards  it  rather  as  an  obstacle  opposed 
jgJlJg_T"nv'ftmft"t-s,  tlianjas_  the  most  powerful  means  of 
jfoftilitating  them  ;  thus  the  fountain  of  national  growth,^, 
the  origin  of  the  early  celebrity  of  Egypt,  the  cause  of 
Holland's  greatness,  and  of  the  rapid  development  of 
North  America,  the  navigation  of  rivers,  or  the  use  of 
canals,  remains  a  latent  power,  unappreciated  by  the 
inhabitants  of  the  banks  of  the  Bermejo,  Pilcomayo^ 
Parana,  and  Paraguay.  A  few  small  vessels,  manned 
by  Italians  and  adventurers,  sail  up  stream  from  the 


RIVERS    WITHOUT   COMMERCE.  5 

Plata,  but  after  ascending  a  few  leagues,  even  this 
navigation  entirely  ceases.  The  instinct  of  the  sailor, 
which  the  Saxon  colonists  of  the  north  possess  in  so 
high  a  degree,  was  not  bestowed  upon  the  Spaniard. 
Another  spirit  is  needed  to  stir  these  arteries  in  which, 
a  nation's  life-blood  now  lies  stagnant.  Of  all  these 
rivers  which  should  bear  civilization,  power,  and  wealth, 
to  the  most  hidden  recesses  of  the  continent,  and  make 
of  Santa  Fe,  Entre  Rios,  Corrientes,  Cordova,  Saltas, 
Tucuman,  and  Jujui,  rich  and  populous  states,  the 
Plata  alone,  which  at  last  unites  them  all,  bestows  its 
benefits  upon  the  inhabitants  of  its  banks.  At  its 
mouth  stand  two  cities,  Montevideo  and  Buenos  Ayres, 
which  at  present  reap  alternately  the  advantages  of 
their  enviable  position.  Buenos  Ayres  is  dpstin^d  to 
be  some  day  the  most  gigantic  c^ty  of  either'America. 
Under  a  benignant  climate,  mistress  of  the  navigation 
of  a  hundred  rivers  flowing  past  her  feet,  covering  a 
vast  area,  and  surrounded  by  inland  provinces  which 
know  no  other  outlet  for  their  products,  she  would  ere 

/  now  have  become  the  Babylon  of  America,  if  the  spirit 

of  the  Pampa  had  not  breathed  upon  her,  and  left  un- 
developed the  rich  offerings  which  the  rivers  and  prov- 
inces should  unceasingly  bring.  She  is  the  pnly  city 
in  the  vast  Argentine  territory  which  is  in  communica- 
tion with  European  nations ;  she  alone  can  avail  her- 
self of  the  advantages  of  foreign  commerce  ;  she  alone 
has  power  and  revenue.  Vainly  have  the  provinces 

^          asked  to  receive  through  her,  civilization,  industry,  and     , 
European  population  ;  a  senseless  coldnial  policy  made  ~ 
herMeaf  to  these  cries.     But  the  provinces  had  their 
revenge  when  they  sent  to  her  in  Rosas  the  climax  of 
their  own  barbarism. 


6  LIFE   IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

Heavily  enough  have  those  who  uttered  it,  paid  for 
the  saying,  "  The  Argentine  Republic  ends  at  the 
Arroyo  del  Medio."  It  now  reaches  from  the  Andes 
to  the  sea,  while  barbarism  and  violence  have  sunk 
Buenos  Ayres  below  the  level  of  the  provinces.  We 
ought  not  to  complain  of  Buenos  Ayres  that  she  is 
great  and  will  be  greater,  for  this  is  her  destiny.  This 
would  be  to  complain  of  Providence  and  call  upon  it 
to  alter  physical  outlines.  This  being  impossible,  let 
us  accept  as  well  done  what  has  been  done  by  the 
Master's  hand.  Let  us  rather  blame  the  ignorance  of 
that  brutal  power  which  makes  the  gifts  lavished  by 
Nature  upon  an  erring  people  of  no  avail  for  itself  or 
fdr  the  provinces.  Buenos  Ayres,  instead  of  sending 
to  the  interior,  light,  wealth,  and  prosperity,  sends  only 
chains,  exterminating  hordes,  and  petty  subaltern  ty- 
rants. She,  too,  takes  her  revenge  for  the  evil  inflicted 
upon  her  by  the  provinces  when  they  prepared  for  her 
a^Rpsas ! 

I  have  indicated  the  circumstance  that  the  position 
of  Buenos  Ayres  favors  monopoly,  in  order  to  show 
that  the  configuration  of  the  country  so  tends  to  cen- 
tr^lization  and  consolidation,  that  even  if  Rosas  had 
uttered  his  cry  of  "  Confederation  or  Death  !  "  in  good 
faith,  he  would  have  ended  with  the  consolidated  sys- 
tem which  is  now  established.  Our  desire,  however, 
should  be  for  union  in  civilization,  and  in  liberty^  while 
there  has  been  given  us  only  union  in  barbarism  and 
in  slavery.  But  a  time  will  come  when  business  will 
take  its  legitimate  course.  What  it  now  concerns  <us  * 
to  know  is,  that  the  progress  o£  civilization  must  culmi- 
nate only  in  Buenos  Ayres  ;  the  pampa  is  a  very  bad 


AN   UNBROKEN   COUNTRY.  7 

-  medium  of  transmission  and  distribution  through  the 
provinces,  and  we  are  now  about  to  see  what  is  the 
result  of  this  condition  of  things. 

But  above  all  the  peculiarities  of  special  portions  of 
the  country,  there  predominates  one  general,  uniform, 
and  constant  character.  Whether  the  soil  is  covered 
with  the  luxuriant  and  colossal  vegetation  of  the  tropics, 
or  stunted,  thorny,  and  unsightly  shrubs  bear  witness 
to  the  scanty  moisture  which  sustains  them  ;  or  whether 
finally  the  pam'pa  displays  its  open  and  monotonous 
level,  the  surface  of  the  country  is  generally  flat  and 
unbroken  —  the  mountain  groups  of  San  Luis  and 
Cordova  in  the  centre,  and  some  projecting  spurs  of  the 
Andes  toward  the  north,  being  scarcely  an  mjerrup- 
tion  to  this  boundless  continuity. 

We  have,  in  this  fact,  a  new  element  calculated  to 
-|  consolidate  the  nation  which  is  hereafter  to  occupy 
these  great  solitudes,  for  it  is  well  known  that  moun- 
tains and  other  natural  obstacles  interposed  between 
different  districts,  keep  up  the  isolation  and  the  primi- 
tive peculiarities  of  their  inhabitants.  North  America 
is  destined  to  be  a  federation,  not  so  much  because  its 
first  settlements  were  independent  of  each  other,  as  on 
account  of  the  length  of  its  Atlantic  coast,  and  the 
various  routes  to  the  interior  afforded  by  the  St.  Law- 
rence in  the  north,  the  Mississippi  in  the  south,  and  the 
immense  system  of  canals  in  the  centre.  The  Argen- 
tine Republic  is  "  one  and  indivisible." 


Many  philosophers  have  also  thought  that  plains  pre-      y 
pare  the  way  for  despotism,  just  as  mountains  f 
strongholds  for  the  struggles  of  liberty.    The  bou 
plain  which  permits  the  unobstructed  passage  of 


8  LIFE  IN   THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

and  weighty  wagons  by  routes  upon  which  the  hand 
of  man  has  only  been  required  to  cut  away  a  few  trees 
and  thickets,  and  -which  extend  from  Salta  to  Buenos 
Ayres,  and  thence  to  Mendoza,  a  distance  of  more  than 
seven  hundred  leagues,  constitutes  one  of  the  most 
noteworthy  features  of  the  internal  conformation  of  the 
Republic.  The  exertions  of  the  individual,  aided  by 
what  rude  nature  has  done  already,  suffice  to  provide 
ways  and  means  of  communication  ;  if  art  shall  offer 
its  assistance,  if  the  forces  of  society  shall  attempt  to 
supply  the  strength  lacking  in  the  individual,  the  co- 
lossal dimensions  of  the  work  will  repel  the  most  enter- 
prising, and  insufficiency  of  labor  will  be  an  obstacle. 
Thus  in  the  matter  of  roads,  untamed  nature  will  long 
have  control,  and  the  action  of  civilization  will  con- 
tinue weak  and  inoperative. 

"Moreover,  these  outstretched  plains  impart  to  the 
life  of  the  interior  a  certain  Asiatic  coloring,  which  we 
may  even  call  very  decided.  I  have  often  mechani- 
cally saluted  the  moon,  as  it  rose  calmly  and  brightly, 

V  with  these  words  of  Volney  in  his  description  of  the 
Ruins  :  "  La  pleine  lune  a  1'Orient  s'e'le'vait  sur  un 
fo.nd  bleu&tre  aux  plaines  rives  de  1'Euphrate."  There 

>  is  something  in  the  wilds  of  the  Argentine  territory 
which  brings  to  mind  the  wilds  of  Asia  ;  the  imagina- 
tion discovers  a  likeness  between  the  pampa  and  the 
plains  lying  between  the  Euphrates  and  the  Tigris ; 
some  affinity  between  the  lonely  line  of  wagons  which 
crosses  our  wastes,  arriving  at  Buenos  Ayres  after  a 

' .  journey  lasting  for  months,  and  the  caravan  of  camels 

*  which  takes  its  way  toward  Bagdad  or  Smyrna.  The 
wagons  which  make  such  journeys  among  us,  consti- 


THE  RULE  OF  THE  STRONGEST.  9 

tute,  so  to  speak,  squadrons  of  little  barks,  the  crews  of 
which  have  a  peculiar  dress,  dialect,  and  set  of  customs, 
which  distinguish  them  from .  their  fellow-countrymen, 
g'ust  as  the  sailor  differs  from  the  landsman.  The  head 
of  each  party  is  a  military  leader,  like  the  chief  of  an 
Asiatic  caravan ;  this  position  can  be  filled  only  by  a 
man  of  iron  will,  and  daring  to  the  verge  of  rashness, 
that  he  may  hold  in  check  the  audacity  and  turbulence 
of  the  land  pirates  who  are  to  be  directed  and  ruled 
by  himself  alone,  for  no  help  can  be  summoned  in  the 
desert.  On  the  least  symptom  of  insubordination,  the 
captain  raises  his  iron  chicote,  and  delivers  upon  thq 
mutineer  blows  which  make  contusions  and  wounds ; 
if  the  resistance  is  prolonged,  before  resorting  to  his 
pistols,  the  help  of  which  he  generally  scorns,  he  leaps 
from  his  horse,  grasps  his  formidable  knife,  and  quickly 
reestablishes  his  authority  by  his  superior  skill  in 
handling  it.  If  any  one  loses  his  life  under  such  disci- 
pline, the  leader  is  not  answerable  for  the  assassination, 
which  is  regarded  as  an  exercise  of  legitimate  authprity. 
From  these  characteristics  arises  in  the  life  of  the 
Argentine  people  the  reign  of  brute  force,  the  suprem- 
acy of  the  strongest,  the  absolute  and  irresponsible 
authority  of  rulers,  the  administration  of  justice  with- 
out formalities  or  discussion.  The  caravan  of  wagons 
is  provided,  moreover,  with  one  or  two  guns  to  each 
wagon,  and  sometimes  the  leading  one  has  a  small 
piece  of  artillery  on  a  swivel.  If  the  train  is  attacked 
by  the  savages,  the  wagons  are  tied  together  in  a  ring, 
and  a  successful  resistance  is  almost  always  opposed  to 
the  blood-thirsty  and  rapacious  plunder  of  the  assail- 
ants. Defenseless  droves  of  pack-mules  often  fall  into 


10  LIFE  IN   THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

the  hands  of  these  American  Bedouins,  and  muleteers 
rarely  escape  with  their  lives.  '  In  these  long  journeys, 
the 'lower  classes  of  the  Argentine  population  acquire 
the  habit  of  living  far  from  society,  of  struggling  single- 
"faanded  with  nature,  of  disregarding  privation,  and  of 
depending  for  protection  against  the  dangers  ever  im- 
minent upon  no  other  resources  than  personal  strength 
and  skill.  > 

The  people  who  inhabit  these  extensive  districts, 
belong  to  two  different  races,  the  Spanish  and  the 
nativej  the  combinations  of  which  form  a  series  of-im- 
psrceptible  gradations.  The  pure  Spanish  race  pre- 
dominates in  the  rural  districts  of  Cordova  and  San 
Luis,  where  it  is  common  to  'meet  young  shepherdesses 
fair  and  rosy,  and  as  beautiful  as  the  belles  of  a  capital 
could  wish  to  be.  In  Santiago  del  Estero,  the  bulk  of 
the  rural  population  still  speaks  the  Quichua.  .dialect, 
which  plainly  shows  its  Indian  origin.  The  country 
people  of  Corrientes  use  a  very  pretty  Spanish  dialect. 
"  Dame,  general,  una  chiripa,"  said  his  soldiers  to  La- 
valle.  The  Andalusian  soldier  may  still  be  recog- 
nized in  the  rural  districts  of  Buenos  Ayres ;  and  in 
the  city  foreign  surnames  are  the  most  numerous.  The 
negro  race,  by  this  time  nearly  extinct  (except  in 
Buenos  Ayres),  has  left,  in  its  zambos  and  mulattoes, 

;a  lin-k  which  connects  civilized  man  with  the  denizen 
of  the  woods.  This  race  mostly  inhabiting  cities,  has 
a  tendency  to  become  civilized,  and  possesses  talent  and 
the  finest  instincts  of  progress. 

With  these  reservations,  a  homogeneous  whole  has 

resulted   from    the   fusion    of  the  three  above-named 

.     families.     It  is  characterized  by  love  of  idleness  and 


NATIVE  INDOLENCE.  11 

incapacity  for  industry,  except  when  education  and  the 
exigencies  of  a  social  position  succeed  in  spurring  it  out 
of  its  customary  pace.  To  a  great  extent,  this  unfor- 
tunate result  is  owing  to  the  incorporation  of  the  native 
tribes,  effected,  by  the  process  of  colonization.  The 
American-  aborigine^  live  in  idleness,  and  show  them- 
selves incapable,  even  under  compulsion,  of  hard  and 
protracted  labor.  This  suggested  the  idea  of  introdu- 
cing negroes  into  America,  which  has  produced  such 
fatal  results.  But  the  Spanish  race  has  not  shown 
itself  more  energetic  than  the  aborigines,  when  it  has 
been  left  to  its  own  instincts  in  the  wilds  of  America. 
Pity  and  shame  are  excited  by  the  comparison  of  one 
of  the  Gt§rmanj>r  Scotch  colonies  in  the  southern  part 
of  Buenos  Ayres  and  some  towns  of  the  interior  of  the 
Argentine  Republic  ;  in  the  former  the  cottages,  are 
painted,  the  front-yards  always  neatly  kept  and  adorned 
with  flowers  and  pretty  shrubs  ;  the  furniture  simple 
but  complete  ;  copper  or  tin  utensils  always  bright  and 
clean  ;  nicely  curtained  beds ;  and  the  occupants  of  ^he 
dwelling  are  always  industriously  at  work.  Some  such 
families  have  retired  to  enjoy  the  conveniences  of  city* 
life,  with  great  fortunes  gained  by  their  previous  labors 
in  milking  their  cows,  and  making  butter  and  cheese. 
The  towjX-jnhabited  by  natives  _of  the  country,  pre- 
sents a  picture  entirely  the  reverse.  There.,  dirty  and 
fagged-eliildiien  live,  with  a  menagerie  of  dogs ;  there, 
men  lie  about  in  utter  idleness  ;  neglect  and  poverty 
prevail  everywhere ;  a  table  and  some  baskets  are  the 
only  furniture  of  wretched  huts  remarkable  *  for  their 
general  aspect  of  barbarism  and  carelessness. 

This  wretched  manner  of  life  of  a  people  already  on 


12  LIFE  IN   THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

the  decrease,  and  belonging  to  the  pastoral  districts, 
doubtless  gave  rise  to  the  words  which  spite  and  the 
humiliation  of  the  English  arms  drew  from  Sir  Walter 

.  Scott:  "  The  vast  plains  of  Buenos  Ayres,"  he  says, 
*'  are  inhabited  only  by  Christian  savages  known  as  v 
Guachos  "  (gauchos,  he  should  have  said),  "  whose 
furniture,  is  chiefly  composed  of  horses'  skulls,  whose 
food  is  raw  beef  and  water,  and  whose  favorite  pastime 
is  running  horses  to  death.  Unfortunately,"  adds  the 
good  foreigner,  "  they  prefer  their  national  independ- 
ence to  our  cottons  and  muslins."  1 

-  It  would  be  well  to  ask  England  to  say  at  a  venture 
how  many  yards  of  linen  and  pieces  of  muslin  she 
wouM  give  to  own  these  plains  of  Buenos  Ayres  I 

Upon  the  boundless  expanse  above  described  stan4 
scattered  here  and  there  fourteen  cities,  each  the  capi- 
tal of  a  province.  The  obvious  method  of  arranging 
their  names  would  be  to  classify  them  according  to 
their  geographical  position  :  Buenos  Ayres,  Santa  Fe*r 
Entfe  Rios,  and  Corrientes,  on  the  banks  of  the  Para- 
na ;  Mendoza,  San  Juan,  Rioja,  Catamarca,  Tucuman, 
Salta,  and  Jujui,  being  on  a  line  nearly  parallel  to  the 
Chilian  Andes ;  with  Santiago,  San  Luis,  and  Cor- 
dova, in  the  centre.  But  this  manner  of  enumerating 
the  Argentine  towns  has  no  connection  with  any  of  the 
social  results  which  I  have  in  view.  A  classification 
adapted  to  my  purpose  must  originate  in  the  ways  of 

.life  pursued  by  the  country  people,  for  it  is  this  which 
determines  their  character  and  spirit.  I  have  stated 
above  that  the  proximity  of  the  rivers  makes  no  differ-  v 

_ence  in  this  respect,  because  the  extent  to  which  they 

,  !  Life,  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  vol.  ii.,  chap.  1. 


CIVILIZATION   BY   CITIES.  15 

.  are  navigated  is  so  trifling  as  to  be  without  in/niding 
upon  the  people.  Vre-* 

All  the  Argentine  provinces,  except  San  Juan.ane 
Mehdoza,  depend  on  the  products  of  pastoral _lifej . 
Tucuman  avails  itself  of  agriculture  also,  and  Buenos 
Ayres,  besides  raising  millions  of  cattle  and  sheep,  de- 
votes itself  to  the  numerous  and  diversified  occupations 
of  civilized  life. 

The  Argentina  cities,  like  almost  all  the   cities   of 

,  South   America,   have    an  appearance   of  regularity. 
Their  streets  are  laid  out  at  right  angles,  and  their 

^population  scattered  over  a  wide  surface,  except  in 
Cordova,  which  occupies  a  narrow  and  confined  posi-  - 
tion,  and  presents  all  the  appearance  of  a  European 
city,  the  resemblance  being  increased  by  the  multitude 
of  towers  and  domes  attached  to  its  numerous  and 
magnificent  churches.  All  civilization,  whether  native, 
Spanish,  or  European,  centres  in  the  cities,  where  are 
to  be  found  the  manufactories,  the  shops,  the  schools 
and  colleges,  and  other  characteristics  of  civilized  na- 
tions. Elegance  oLstyle,  articles  of  luxury,  dress-coats, 
and  frock-coats,  with  other  European  garments,  oc- 
cupy their  appropriate  place  in  these  towns.  I  mention 
these  small  matters  designedly.  It  is  sometimes  the 
case  that  the  only  city  of  a  pastoral  province  is  its  cap- 
ital, and  occasionally  the  land  is  uncultivated  up  to  its 
very  streets.  The  encircling  desert  besets  such  cities 
at  a  greater  or  less  distance,  and  bears  heavily  upon 
them,  and  they  are  thus  small  oases  of  civilization  sur-" 
rounded  by  an  un tilled  plain,  hundreds  of  square  miles 
in  extent,  the  surface  of  which  is  but  rarely  interrupted 
by  any  settlement  of  consequence. 


.iFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

,  cities  of  Buenos  Ay  res  and  Cordova  haxe  suc- 
*ed  better  than  the  others  in  establishing  about  them 
subordinate  towns  to  serve  as  new  foci  of  civilization 
and  municipal  interests  ;  a  fact  Which  deserves  notice.    ( 
The  inhabitanj^_of_the  city  wear  the  European  dre.ss, 
live  in  a  civilized   manner,  and  possess   laws,  ideas  of 
progress,  means  of  instruction,  some  municipal  organi- 
zation, regular  forms  of  government,  etc.     Beyond  tHe  t 
precincts  of  the  city  everything  assumes  a  new  aspect; 
the  country  people  wear  a  different  dress,  which  I  will 
call  South  American,  as  it  is  common  to  all  districts  ;  - 
their  habits  of  life  are  different,  their  wants'  peculiar 
and  limited.     The  people  composing  these  two  distinct 
forms  of  society,  do  not  seem  to  belong  to  the  same   , 
nation.     Moreover,  the  countryman,  far  from  attempt- 
ing to  imitate  the  customs  of  the  city,  rejects  with  dis-  * 
dain  its  luxury  and  refinement ;  and  it  is  unsafe  for  the 
costume  of  the  city  people,   their   coats,  their  cloaks, 
their  saddles,  or  anything  European,  to   show  them- 
selves in  the  country.     Everything  civilized  which  the    , 
city  contains  is  blockaded  there,  proscribed  beyond  its 
,  limits-;  and  any  one  who  should  dare  to  appear  in  the 
rural  districts  in  a  frock-coat,  for  example,  or  mounted 
on  an  English  saddle,  would  bring  ridicule  and  brutal 
assaults  upon  himself. 

'The  whole  remaining  population  inhabit  the  open 
country,  which,  whether  wooded  or  destitute  of  the 
larger  plants,  is  generally  level,  and  almost  everywhere 
occupied  by  pastures,  in  some  places  of  such  abun- 
dance- and  exceH"ence7^that  the  grass  of  an  artificial 
meadow  would  not  surpass  them.  Mendoza,  and 
especially  San  Juan,  are  exceptions  to  this  general 


AMERICAN   BEDOUINS.,  '  15 

absence   of  tilled   fields,   the    people    here  depending     * 
chiefly  .on  the   products   of  agriculture.     Everywhere 
else,  pasturage  being  plenty,  the  means  of  subsistence 
of  the  inhabitants  —  for  we  cannot  call  it  their  occu- 
pation—  is  stock-rajsnvg.     Pastoral-life  reminds  us  of ^  7 
•the    Asiatic    plains,   which    imagination    covers   with 
Kalmuck,  Cossack,  or  Arab  tents.     The  primitive  life 
7  of  nations  —  a   life    essentially  barbarous  and  unpro- 

/  Digressive  —  the  life  of  Abraham,  which  is  that  of  the 
Bedouin  of  to-day,  prevails  in  the  Argentine  plains, 
although  modified  in  a  peculiar  manner  by  civilization. 

,    •   The  Arab  tribe  which  wanders  through  the  wilds  of . 
Asia,  is  united  under  the  rule  of  one  of  its  elders  or  of 
a  warrior  chief;  society  exists,  although  not  fixed  in 
any  determined  locality.     Its   religious   opinions,  im-  * 
memorial  traditions,  unchanging  customs,  and  its  sen- 
timent of  respect  for  the  aged,  make  altogether  a  code     ^ 
.  of  laws  and  a  form  of  government  which  preserves 
morality,  as  it  is  there  understood,  as  well  as  order  and 
the  association  of  the  tribe.     But  progress  is  ip»possi- 

^      ble,  because  there  can  be  no  progress  without  perma-    . 
/nent  possession  of  the  soil,  or  without  cities,  which  are     - 
the  means  of  developing  the  capacity  of  man  for  the 
processes  of  industry,  and  which  enable  him  to  extend 
his  acquisitions. 

Nomad  tribes  do  not  exist  in  the  Argentine  plaini  ; 
the  stock-raiser  is  a  proprietor,  living  upon  his  own 
land  ;  but  this  condition  renders  association  impossible, 
and  tends  to  scatter  separate  families  over  an  immense  ^ 
extent  of  surface.  Imagine  an  expanse  of  two  thou- 
sand square  leagues,  inhabited  throughout,  but  where 
the  dwellings  are  usually  four  or  even  eight  leagues  * 


16  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

apart,  and  two  leagues,  at  least,  separate  the  nearest 
neighbors.  The  production  of  movable  property  is  not 
impossible,  the  enjoyments  of  luxury  are  not  wholly 
incompatible  with  this  isolation ;  wealth  can  raise  a 
superb  edifice  in  the  desert.  But  the  incentive  is. 
wanting  ;  no  example  is  near  ;  the  inducements  for 
making  a  great  display  which  exist  in  a  city,  are  not 
known  in  that  isolation  and  solitude.  Inevitable  pri- 
vations justify  natural  indolence  ;  a  dearth  of  all  the 
amenities  of  life  induces  all  the  externals  of  barbarism. 
Society  has  altogether  disappeared.  There  is  but  the 
isolated  self-concentrated  feudal  family.  Since  there  is 
no  collected  society,  no  government  is  possible  ;  there 
is  neither  municipal  nor  executive  power,  and  civil 
justice  has  no  means  of  reaching  criminals.  I  doubt 
if  the  modern  world  presents  any  other  form  of  associ- 
ation so  monstrous  as  this.  It  is  the  exact  opposite  of 
the  Roman  municipality,  where  all  the  population  were 
assembled  within  an  inclosed  space,  and  went  from  it 
to  cultivate  the  surrounding  fields.  The  consequence 
of  this  was  a  strong  social  organization,  the  good  results 
of  which  have  prepared  the  way  for  modern  civiliza- 
tion. The  Argentine  system  resembles  the  old  Slavo- 
nic Sloboda,  with  the  difference  that  the  latter  was 
agricultural,  and  therefore  more  susceptible  of  govern- 
ment, while  the  dispersion  of  the  population  was  not 
so  great  as  in  South  America.  It  differs  from  the 
nomad  tribes  in  admitting  of  no  social  reunion,  and  in 
a  permanent  occupation  of  the  soil.  Lastly,  it  has 
something  in  common  with  the  feudal  system  of  the 
Middle  Ages,  when  the  barons  lived  in  their  strong-, 
holds,  and  thence  made  war  on  the  cities,  and  laid 


SOCIAL  ASPECTS.  17 

waste  the  country  in  the  vicinity  ;  but  the  baron  and 
the  feudal  castle  are  wanting.  If  power  starts  up  in 
the  country,  it  lasts  only  for  a  moment,  and  is  demo- 
cratic ;  it  is  not  inherited,  nor  can  it  maintain  itself, 
for  want  of  mountains  and  strong  positions.  It  follows 
from  this,  that  even  the  savage  tribe  of  the  pampas  is 
better  organized  for  moral  development  than  are  our 
country  districts. 

But  the  remarkable  feature  of  this  society,  viewed 
in  its  social  aspect,  is  its  affinity  to  the  life  of  the  an- 
cients •::::rtoThe  life  of  the  Spartans  or  Romans ;  but 
again  a  radical  dissimilarity  appears  when  the.  subject 
is  considered  from  another  side.  The  free  citizen  of 
Sparta  or  of  Rome  threw  upon  his  slaves  the  weight 
of  material  life,  the  care  of  providing  for  his  subsist- 
ence, while  he  lived,  free  from  such  cares,  in  the  forum 
or  in  the  public  place  of  assembly,  exclusively  occupied 
with  the  interests  of  the  State  —  peace,  war,  and  party 
contests.  The  stock-raiser  has  his  share  of  the  same 
advantages,  and  his  herds  fulfill  the  degrading  office  .of 
the  ancient  Helot.  Their  spontaneous  multiplication 
constitutes  and  indefinitely  augments  his  fortune  ;  the 
help  of  man  is  superfluous  ;  his  labor,  his  intelligence,  . 
his  time,  are  not  needed  to  the  preservation  and  in- 
crease of  the  means  of  life.  But  though  he  needs  none 
of  these  forces  for  the  supply  of  his  physical  wants,  he 
is  unable  to  make  use  of  them,  when  thus  saved,  as  „ 
the  Roman  did.  He  has  no  city,  no  municipality,  no 
intimate  associations,  and  thus  the  basis  of  all  social 
development  is  wanting.  As  the  land-owners  are  not 
brought  together,  they  have  no  public  wants'  to  satisfy ; 
in  a  word,  there  is  no  res  publica. 


18  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 


NTINl 


Moral  progress,  £tid  the  cultivation  of  the  intellect, 
are  here  not  only  neglected,  as  in/  the  Arab  or  Tartar 
tribe,  but  impossible.  Where  can  a  school  be  placed, 
for  the  instruction  of  children  living  ten  leagues  apart 
in  all  directions  ?  Thus,  consequently,  civilization  can 
in  no  way  be  brought  about.  Barbarism  is  the  normal 

'condition,1  and  it  is  fortunate  if  domestic  customs  pre- 
serve a  small  germ  of  morality.  Religion  feels  the 
consequences  of  this  want  of  social  organization.  The 
offices  of  the  pastor  are  nominal,  the  pulpit  has  no 
Audience,  the  Driest  flees  from  the  deserted  chapel,  or 
allows  his  character  to  deteriorate  in  inactivity  and 
solitude.  Vice,  simony,  and  the  prevalent  barbarism 
penetrate  his  cell,  and  change  his  moral  superiority 

t  into  the  means  of  gratifying  his  avarice  or  ambition, 
and  he  ends  by  becoming  a  party  leader.  I  once  wit- 
nessed a  scene  of  rural  life  worthy  of  the  primitive 
ages  of  the  world,  which  preceded  the  institution  of 
the  priesthood.  In  1838  I  happened  to  be  in  the 
Sierra  de  San  Luis,  at  the  house  of  a  proprietor  whose 

'two  favorite  occupations  were  saying  prayers  and 
gambling.  He  had  built  a  chapel  where  he  used  to 
pray  through  the  rosary  on  Sunday  afternoons,  to 
supply  the  want  of  a  priest,  and  of  the  public  divine 
service  of  which  the  place  had  been  destitute  for  many 
years.  It  was  a  Homeric  picture :  the  sun  declining 
to  the  west';  the  sheep  returning  to  the  fold,  and  rend- 
ing the  air  with  their  confused  bleatings  ;  the  service 
conducted  by  the  master  of  the  house,  a  man  of  sixty, 

1  In  1826,  during  a  year's  residence  at  the  Sierra  de  San  Luis,  I  taught 
the  art  of  reading  to  six  young  people  of  good  families,  the  youngest  of 
whom  was  twenty-two  years  old. 


KELIGIOUS  ASPECTS.  19 

% 

with  a  noble  countenance,  in  which  the  pure  European 
race  was  evident  in  the  white  skin,  blue  eyes,  and  wide 
and  open  forehead  ;  while  the  o^sponses  were  made 
by  a  dozen  women  and  some  young  men,  whose  imper- 
fectly broken  horses  were  fastened  near  the  door  of  the 
chapel.  After  finishing  the  rosary,  he  fervently  offered 
up  his  own  petitions.  I  never  heard  a  voice  fuller  of 
pious  feeling,  nor  a  prayer  of  purer  warmth,  of  firmer 
faith,  of  greater  beauty,  or  better  adapted  to  the  cir- 
cumstances, than  that  which  he  uttered.  In  this 
prayer  he  besought  God  to  grant  rain  for  the  fields, 
fruitfulness  for  the  herds  and  flocks,  peace  for  the  Re- 
public, and  safety  for  all  wayfarers.  I  readily  shed 
tears,  and  wept  even  with  sobs,  for  the  religious  senti- 
ment had  been  awakened  in  my  soul  to  intensity,  arid 
like  an  unknown  sensation,  for  I  never  witnessed  a 
more  religious  scene.  I  seemed  to  be  living  in  the 
times  of  Abraham,  in  his  presence,  in  that  of  God,  and ' 
of  the  nature  which  reveals  Him.  The  voice  of  that 
sincere  and  pure-minded  man  made  all  my  nerves  vi- 
brate, and  penetrated  to  my  inmost  soul. 

To  this,  that  is,  to  natural  religion,  is  all  religion 
reduced  in  the  pastoral  districts.  Christianity  exists, 
like  the  Spanish  idioms,  as  a  tradition  which  is  perpet- 
uated, but  corrupted ;  colored  by  gross  superstitions 
and  unaided  by  instruction,  rites,  or  convictions.  It  is 
the  case"  in  almost  all  the  districts  which  are  remote 
from  the  cities,  that  when  traders  from  San  Juan  or 
Mendoza  arrive  there,  three  or  four  children,  some 
months  or  a  year  old,  are  presented  to  them  for  bap- 
tism, confidence  being  felt  that  their  good  education 
will  enable  them  to  administer  the  rite  in  a  valid  man- 


20  LIFE  IN   THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

ner  ;  and  on  the  arrival  of  a  priest,  young  men  old » 
enough  to  break  a  colt,  present  themselves  to  him  to  • 
be  anointed  and  have  baptism  sub  conditione  adminis- 
-tered  to  them. 

In  the  absence  of  all  the  means  of  civilization  and 
,  progress,  which  can  only  be  developed  among  men 
'collected  into  societies  of  many  individuals,  the  educa-  , 
tion  of  the  country  people  is  as  follows:  The  women  look 
after  the  house,  get  the  meals  ready,  shear  the  sheep, 
milk  the  cows,  make  the  cheese,  and  weave  the  coarse 
cloth  used  for  garments.  All  domestic  occupations  arer  ^ 
performed  by  women  ;  on  them  rests  the  burden  of  all 
the  labor,  and  it  is  an  exceptional  favor  when  some  of 
the  men' undertake  the  cultivation  of  a  little  maize, 
bread  not  being  in  use  as  an  ordinary  article  of  diet. 
The  boys  exercise  their  strength  and  amuse  themselves 
by  gaining  skill  in  the  use  of  the  lasso  and  the  bolas, 
with  which  they  constantly  harass  and  pursue  the 
calves  and  goats.  When  they  can  ride,  which  is  as" 
soon  as  they  have  learned  to  walk,  they  perform  some 
small  services  on  horseback.  When  they  become 
stronger,  they  race  over  the  country,  falling  off  their 
horses  and  getting  up  again,  tumbling  on  purpose  into 
rabbit1  burrows,  scrambling  over  precipices,  and  prac-, 
ticing  feats  of  horsemanship.  On  reaching  puberty, 
they  take  to  breaking  wild  colts,  and  death  is  the  least  ' 
penalty  that  awaits  them  if  their  strength  or  courage 
fails  them  for  a  moment.  With  early  manhood  comes 
complete  independence  and  idleness.  ., 

*  Now  begins  the  public  life  of  the  gaucho,  as  I  may 
say,  since  his  education   is  by  this  time   at  an  end,,    * 

1  Viscachas. 


<  GAUCHO  TRAITS. 

mplants 

These  men,  Spaniards  only  in   their  language  ;sibility 
the  confused  religious  notions  preserved  among  ion,  it  „  7 
must,  be  seen,  before  a  right  estimate  can  be  made  of" 
the  indomitable  and  haughty  character  which  grows 
out   of  this  struggle    of  isolated  man  with  untamed    . 
nature,  of  the  rational  being  with  the   brute.      It  is 
necessary  to  see   their  visages   bristling  with  beards,    . 
their  countenances  as  grave  and  serious  as  those  of  the 
Arabs  of  Asia,  to  appreciate  the  pitying  scorn  with' 
which  they  look  upon   the   sedentary  denizen  of  the 
city,  who  may  have  read  many  books,  but  who  cannot 
overthrow  and  slay  a  fierce  bull,  who  could  not  pro- 
vide himself  with  a  horse  from  the  pampas,  who  has 
never  met  a  tiger  alone,  and  received  him  with  a  dag- 
ger in  one  hand  and  a  poncho  rolled  up  in  the  other, 
to  be  thrust  into  the  animal's  mouth,  while  he  trans- 
fixes his  heart  with  his  dagger. 

This  habit  of  triumphing  over  resistance,  of  con^ 
stantly  showing  a  superiority  to  Nature,  of  defying  and 
subduing  her,  prodigiously  develops  the  consciousness 
of  individual  consequence  and  superior  prowess.     The   / 
Argentine  people  of  every  class,  civilized  and  ignorant 
alike,  have  a  high  opinion  of  their  national  importance/ 
All  the   other  people   of  South  America   throw   this 
vanity  of  theirs  in  their  teeth,  and  take  offense  at  their 
presumption  and  arrogance.     I  believe  the  charge  not  , 
to   be  wholly  unfounded,  but  I   do  not  object  to  the 
trait.     Alas,  for   the  nation    without   faith   in    itself! 
Great  things  were  not  made  for  such  a  people.     To        ^ 
what  'extent  may  not  the  independence  of  that  part  of 
America  be  due  to  the  arrogance  of  these  Argentine    - 
gaudhos,  -who  have  never  seen  anything  beneath  the 


LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC.  < 

perior  to  themselves  in  wisdom  or  in  power? 
European  is  in  their  eyes  the  most  contemptible 
or  all  men,  for  a  horse 'gets  the  better  of  him  in  a 
couple  of  plunges.1 

If  the  origin  of  this  national  vanity -among  the  lower 
classes  is  despicable,  it  has  none  the  less  on  that  ac- 
couijt  some  noble  results  ;  as  the  water  of  a  river  is  no 
less  pure  for  tlje  mire  and  pollution  of  its  sources.  Im- 
placable is  the  hatred  which  these  people  feel  for  men 
of  refinement,  whose  garments,  manners,  and  customs, 
they  regard  with  invincible  repugnance.  Such  is  the 
material  of  the  Argentine  soldiery,  and  it  may  easily  be 
imagined  what  valor  and  endurance  in  war  are  the  con- 
sequences of  the  habits  described  above.  We  may 
add  that  these  soldiers  have  been  used  to  slaughtering 
cattle  from  their  childhood,  and  that  this  act  of  neces- 
sary cruelty  makes  them  familiar  with  bloodshed,  and 
hardens  their  hearts  against  the  groans  of  their  vic- 
tims. 

Country  life,  then,  has  developed  all  the  physical 
but  none  of  the  intellectual  powers  of  the  gaucho. 
His  moral  character  is  of  the  quality  to  be  expected 
from  his  habit  of  triumphing  over  the  obstacles  and  the 
forces  of  nature  ;  it  is  strong,  haughty,  and  energetic. 
Without  instruction,  and  indeed  without  need  of  any, 
without  means  of  support  as  without  wants,  he  is  happy 
in  the  midst  of  his  poverty  and  privations,  which  are 
not  such  to  one  who  never  knew  nor  wished  for  greater 
pleasures  than  are  his  already.  Thus  if  the  disorgani- 

,  !  General  Mansilla  said,  in  a  public  meeting  during  the  French  block- 
ade, "  What  have  we  to  apprehend  from  those  Europeans,  who  are  not 
equal  to  one  night's  gallop?  "  and  the  vast  plebeian  audience  drowned 
the  speaker's  voice  with  thunders  of  applause. 


SOURCES  OF  WEALTH. 

zation  of  society  among  the  gauchos  deeply  implants 
barbarism  in  their  natures,  through  the  impossibility 
and  uselessness  of  moral  and  intellectual  education,  it  , 
has,  too,  its  attractive  side  to  him.  The  gaucho  does  not 
labor ;  he  finds  his  food  and  raiment  ready  to  his  hand. 
If  he  is  a  proprietor,  his  own  flocks  yield  him  both  ;  if 
he  possesses  nothing  himself,  he  finds  them  in  the  house 
of  a  patron  or  a  relation.  The  necessary  care  of  the 
herds  is  reduced  to  excursions  and  pleasure  parties ; 
the  branding,  which  is  like  the  harvesting  of  farmers, 
is  a  festival^  the  arrival  of  which  is  received  with  trans- 

~~poffs  of  joy,  being  the  occasion  of  the  assembling  of 
all  the  men  for  twenty  leagues  around,  and  the  oppor- 
tunity for  displaying  incredible  skill  with  the  lasso. 
The  gaucho  arrives  at  the  spot  on  his  best  steed,  riding 
at  a  slow  and  measured  pace  ;  he  halts  at  a  little  dis- 
tance and  puts  his  leg  over  his  horse's  neck  to  enjoy 
the  sight  leisurely.  If  enthusiasm  seizes  him,  he  slowly 
dismounts,  uncoils  his  lasso,  and  flings  it  at  some  bull, 
passing  like  a  flash  of  lightning  forty  paces  from  him  ; 
'  he  catches  him  by  one  hoof,  as  he  intended,  and  quietly 

v  coils  his  leather  cord  again. 


CHAPTER  II. 

ORIGINALITY    AND     PECULIARITIES     OF     THE     ARGENTINE 
PEOPLE. 

"  Ainsi  que  1'  ocean,  les  Steppes  remplessent  1'esprit  du  sentiment  de  1'infini."  — 
Humboldt. 

"  Like  the  ocean,  the  Pampas  fill  the  mind  with  the  impression  of  the  in- 
finite."— Humboldt. 

IF  from  the  conditions  of  pastoral  life,  such  as  colo- 
nization and  neglect  have  constituted  it,  rise  serious 
obstacles  in  the  way  of  creating  any  political  organiza-'' 
tion,  and  much  more  for  the  introduction  of  European 
civilization  and  institutions,  as  well  as  their  natural 
results,  wealth,  and  liberty,  it  cannot  be  denied,  on  the 
other  hand,  that  this  state  of  things  has  its  poetic 
side,  and  possesses  aspects  worthy  of  the  pen  of  the 
romancer.  If  any  form  of  national  literature  shall 
appear  in  these  new  American  societies,  it  must  result 
from  the  description  of  the  mighty  scenes  of  nature, 
and  still  more  from  the  illustration  of  the  struggle 
between  European  civilization  and  native  barbarism, 
between  mind  and  matter  —  a  struggle  of  imposing 
magnitude  in  South  America,  and  which  suggests 
scenes  so  peculiar,  so  characteristic,  and  so  far  outside 
the  circle  of  ideas  in  which  the  European  mind  has 
been  educated,  that  their  dramatic  relations  would  be 
unrecognized  machinery,  except  in  the  country  in 
which  they  are  found. 


POETIC  CHARACTER.  25 

The  only  North  American  novelist  who  has  gained 
a  European  reputation  is  Fenimore  Cooper,  and  he 
succeeded  in  doing  so  by  removing  the  scene  of  the 
events  he  described  from  the  settled  portion  of  the 
country  to  the  border  land  between  civilized  life  and 
that  of  the  savage,  the  theatre  of  the  war  for  the  pos- 
session of  the  soil  waged  against  each  other,  by  the 
native  tribes  and  the  Saxon  race. 

It  was  in  this  manner  that  our  young  poet  Eche- 
varria  succeeded  in  attracting  the  attention  of  the 
literary  world  of  Spain  by  his  poem  entitled  "  The 
Captive."  The  subjects  of  "  Dido  and  Argea  "  which 
his  predecessors  the  Varelas  had  treated  with  classic 
art  and  poetic  fire,  but  without  success  and  ineffect- 
ively, because  they  added  nothing  to  the  stock  of 
European  ideas,  were  abandoned  by  this  Argentine 
bard,  who  turned  his  eyes  to  the  desert.  In  its 
immeasurable  and  boundless  spaces,  in  its  wastes 
traversed  by  wandering  savages,  in  the  distant  belt 
of  flame  which  the  traveller  sees  approaching  when  a 
fire  has  broken  out  upon  the  plains,  he  found  the  in- 
spiration derived  by  the  imagination  from  the  sight  of 
such  natural  scenery  as  is  solemn,  imposing,  unusual, 
and  mysterious ;  and  from  this  the  echo  of  his  verses 
resounded,  and  was  applauded  even  in  the  Spanish 
Peninsula. 

A  fact  which  explains  many  of  the  social  phenom- 
ena of  nations  deserves  a  passing  notice.  The  natural 
peculiarities  of  any  region  give  rise  to  customs  and 
practices  of  a  corresponding  peculiarity,  so  that  where 
the  same  circumstances  reappear,  we  find  the  same 
means  of  controlling  them  invented  by  different  nations. 


26  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

Thus,  in  my  opinion,  is  to  be  explained  the  use  of  bows 
and  arrows  among  all  savage  nations,  whatever  may  be 
their  race,  their  origin,  and  their  geographical  position. 
When  I  came  to  the  passage  in  Cooper's  "  Last  of  the 
Mohicans,"  where  Hawkeye  and  Uncas  lose  the  trail 
of  the  Mingos  in  a  brook,  I  said  to  myself:  "They 
will  dam  up  the  brook."  When  the  trapper  in  "  The 
Prairie  "  waits  in  irresolute  anxiety  while  the  fire  is 
threatening  him  and  his  companions,  an  Argentine 
would  have  recommended  the  same  plan  which  the 
trapper  finally  proposes,  —  that  of  clearing  a  space  for 
immediate  protection,  and  setting  a  new  fire,  so  as  to 
be  able  to  retire  upon  the  ground  over  which  it  had 
passed  beyond  the  reach  of  the  approaching  flames. 
Such  is  the  practice  of  those  who  cross  the  pampa 
when  they  are  in  danger  from  fires  in  the  grass. 

When  the  fugitives  in  "  The  Prairie  "  arrive  at  a 
river,  and  Cooper  describes  the  mysterious  way  in  which 
the  Pawnee  gathers  together  the  buffalo's  hide,  "  he  is 
making  a  pelota"  said  I  to  myself,  —  "  it  is  a  pity  there 
is  no  woman  to  tow  it,"  — for  among  us  it  is  the  women 
who  tow  pelotas  across  rivers  with  lassos  held  between 
their  teeth.  The  way  in  which  a  buffalo's  head  is 
roasted  in  the  desert  is  the  same  which  we  use  for 
cooking  J  a  cow's  head  or  a  loin  of  veal.  I  omit  many 
other  facts  which  prove  the  truth  that  analogies  in  the 
soil  bring  with  them  analogous  customs,  resources, 
and  expedients.  This  explains  our  finding  in  Cooper's 
works  accounts  of  practices  and  customs  which  seem 
plagiarized  from  the  pampa ;  thus,  too,  we  find  repro- 
duced among  American  herdsmen,  the  serious  coun- 

1  Batear. 


POETIC  CHARACTER.  27 

tenance,  the  hospitality,  and  the  very  garments  of  the 
Arab. 

The  country  consequently  derives  a  fund  of  poetry 
from  its  natural  circumstances  and  the  special  customs 
resulting  from  them.  To  arouse  the  poetic  sense 
(which,  like  religious  feeling,  is  a  faculty  of  the  human 
mind),  we  need  the  sight  of  beauty,  of  terrible  power, 
of  immensity  of  extent,  of  something  vague  and  in- 
comprehensible ;  for  the  fables  of  the  imagination,  the 
ideal  world,  begin  only  where  the  actual  and  the  com- 
monplace end. 

Now,  I  inquire,  what  impressions  must  be  made 
upon  the  inhabitant  of  the  Argentine  Republic  by  the 
simple  act  of  fixing  his  eyes  upon  the  horizon,  and  see- 
ing nothing  ?  —  for  the  deeper  his  gaze  sinks  into  that 
shifting,  hazy,  undefined  horizon,  the  further  it  with- 
draws from  him,  the  more  it  fascinates  and  confuses 
him,  and  plunges  him  in  contemplation  and  doubt. 
What  is  the  end  of  that  world  which  he  vainly  seeks 
to  penetrate  ?  He  knows  not !  What  is  there  be- 
yond wjiat  he  sees?  The  wilderness,  danger,  the 
savage,  death  !  Here  is  poetry  already ;  he  who 
moves  among  such  scenes  is  assailed  by  fantastic 
doubts  and  fears,  by  dreams  which  possess  his  waking 
hours. 

Hence  it  follows  that  the  disposition  and  nature  of 
the  Argentine  people  are  poetic.  How  can  such  feel- 
ings fail  to  exist,  when  a  black  storm-cloud  rises,  no 
one  knows  whence,  in  the  midst  of  a  calm,  pleasant 
afternoon,  and  spreads  over  the  sky  before  a  word  can 
be  uttered  ?  The  traveller  shudders  as  the  crashing 
•  thunder  announces  the  tempest,  and  holds  his  breath 


28  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

in  the  fear  of  bringing  upon  himself  one  of  the  thousand 
bolts  which  flash  around  him.  The  light  is  followed 
by  thick  darkness  ;  death  is  on  every  side  ;  a  fearful 
and  irresistible  power  has  instantaneously  driven  the 
soul  back  upon  itself,  and  made  it  feel  its  nothingness 
in  the  midst  of  angry  nature  ;  made  it  feel  God  him- 
self in  the  terrible  magnificence  of  his  works.  What 
more  coloring  could  the  brush  of  fancy  need  ?  Masses 
of  darkness  which  obscure  the  sun  ;  masses  of  tremu- 
lous livid  light  which  shine  through  the  darkness  for  an 
instant  and  bring  to  view  far  distant  portions  of  the 
pampa,  across  which  suddenly  dart  vivid  lightnings, 
symbols  of  irresistible  power.  These  images  must 
remain  deeply  engraved  on  the  soul.  When  the  storm 
passes  by,  it  leaves  the  gaucho  sad,  thoughtful,  and 
serious,  and  the  alternation  of  light  and  darkness  con- 
tinues in  his  imagination,  as  the  disk  of  the  sun  long 
remains  upon  the  retina  after  we  have  been  looking  at 
it  fixedly. 

Ask  the  gaucho,  "  Whom  does  the  lightning  prefer  to 
^kill  ?  "  and  he  will  lead  you  into  a  world  of  moral  and 
religious  fancies,  mingled  with  ill-understood  facts  of 
nature,  and  with  superstitious  and  vulgar  traditions. 
We  may  add  that  if  it  is  certain  that  the  electric  fluid 
enters  into  the  economy  of  human  life  and  is  the  same 
as  the  so-called  nervous  fluid,  the  excitement  of  which 
rouses  the  passions  and  kindles  enthusiasm,  imagina- 
tive exertion  ought  to  be  well  suited  to  the  temper  of 
a  people  living  under  an  atmosphere  so  highly  charged 
with  electricity  that  one's  clothes  sparkle  when  rubbed, 
like  a  cat's  fur  stroked  the  wrong  way. 


POETIC   CHARACTER.  29 

How  can  he  be  otherwise  than  a  poet  who  witnesses 
these  impressive  scenes  ? 

"  Jira  en  vano,  reconcentra 
Su  inmensidad,  i  no  encuentra 
La  vista  en  su  vivo  anhelo 
Do  fijar  su  fugaz  vuelo, 
Como  'el  pajaro  en  la  mar. 
Doquier  campo  i  heredades 
Del  ave  i  bruto  guaridas; 
Doquier  cielo  i  soledades 
De  Dios  solo  conocidas, 
Que  £1  solo  puede  sondear."  —  Echevarria. 

Or  he  who  thus  sees  Nature  in  her  gala  dress  ? 

"  De  las  entranas  de  America 
Dos  raudales  se  desatan; 
El  Parana,  faz  de  perlas, 
I  el  Uruguai,  faz  de  nacar. 
Los  dos  entre  bosques  corren 

0  entre  floridas  barrancas, 
Como  dos  grandes  espejos 
Entre  marcos  de  esmeraldas. 
Saludanlos  en  su  paso 

La  melancolica  pava, 
El  picaflor  i  jilguero, 
El  zorzal  i  la  torcaza. 
Como  ante  reyes  se  inclinan 
Ante  ellos  seibos  i  palmas, 

1  le  arrojan  flor  del  aire, 
Aroma  i  flor  de  naranja. 

Luego  en  el  Guazii  se  encuentran 

I  reuniendo  sus  aguas, 

Mezclando  nacar  i  perlas, 

Se  derraman  en  el  Plata."  —  Dominguez. 

But  this  is  cultivated  poetry,  the  poetry  of  the  city.> 
There  is  another  poetry  which  echoes  over  the  solitary 
plains  —  the  popular,  natural,  and  irregular  poetry  of 
the  gaucho. 

Mftsic,  too,  is  found  among  our  people.  It  is  a 
^.national  taste  recognized  by  all  our  neighbors.  When 


30  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

an  Argentine  is  first  introduced  to  a  Christian  family, 
they  at  once  invite  him  to  the  piano,  or  hand  him  a 
guitar,  and  if  he  excuses  himself  on  the  ground  that 
"hlflloes  not  know  how  to  play,  they  express  wonder 
and  incredulity,  saying,  "  An  Argentine,  and  not 
understand  music !  "  This  general  supposition  bears 
witness  to  our  national  habits.  It  is  the  fact,  that  the 
young  city  people  of  the  better  classes,  play  the  piano, 
flute,  violin,  or  guitar:  the  half-breeds  devote  themselves 
almost  wholly  to  music,  and  many  skillful  composers 
and  players  have  sprung  up  among  them.  Guitars  are 
constantly  heard  at  the  shop-doors  on  summer  even- 
ings ;  and  late  in  the  night,  one's  sleep  is  pleasantly 
disturbed  by  serenades  and  peripatetic  concerts. 

The  country  people  have  songs  peculiar  to  them- 
selves. The  "  Ariste,"  prevalent  among  the  people  of 
the  northern  districts,  is  a  fugue  melody  expressive 
of  lamentation,  such  as  Rousseau  considers  natural  to 
man  in  his  primitive  state  of  barbarism. 

The  "  Vidalita  "  is  a  popular  song  with  a  chorus, 
accompanied  by  the  guitar  and  tabor,  in  the  refrain  of 
which  the  bystanders  join,  and  the  number  and  volume 
of  the  voices  increase.  I  suppose  this  melody  origi- 
nated with  the  aborigines,  for  I  once  heard  it  at  an 
Indian  festival  at  Copiapo,  held  to  celebrate  Candle- 
mas. As  a  religious  song  it  must  be  very  old,  and  the 
Indians  of  Chili  can  hardly  have  adopted  it  from  the 
Spaniards  of  the  Argentine  Republic. 

The  "  Vidalita  "  is  the  popular  measure  for  songs 
about  the  topics  of  the  day,  or  for  warlike  odes  ;  the 
gauchos  compose  the  words  which  they  sing,  and  trust 
to  the  associations  which  the  song  arouses,  to  make 


MUSICAL   CHARACTER.  31 

them  understood  vby  the  people.  Thus,  then,  amidst 
the  rudeness  of  the  national  customs,  two  arts  which 
embellish  civilized  life  and  give  vent  to  many  generous 
passions,  are  honored  and  favored,  even  by  the  lowest 
classes,  who  exercise  their  uncultured  genius  in  lyrical 
and  poetic  composition. 

In  1840,  Echevarria,  then  a  young  man,  lived  some 
months  in  the  country,  where  the  fame  of  his  verses 
upon  the  pampa  had  already  preceded  him  ;  the  gau- 
chos  surrounded  him  with  respect  and  affection,  and 
when  a  new-comer  showed  symptoms  of  the  scorn  he 
felt  for  the  little  minstrel,1  some  one  whispered,  "  He 
is  a  poet,"  and  that  word  dispelled  every  prejudice. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  guitar  is  the  popular  in- 
strument of  the  Spanish  race ;  it  is  also  common  in 
South  America.  The  majo  or  troubadour,  the  type  of 
a  large  class  of  Spaniards,  is  still  found  there,  and  in 
Buenos  Ayres  especially.  He  is  discoverable  in  the 
gaucho  of  the  country,  and  in  the  townsman  of  the 
same  class.  The  cielito^  the  dance  of  the  pampas,  is 
animated  by  the  same  spirit  as  the  Spanish  jaleo,  the 
dance  of  Andalusia  ;  the  dancer  makes  castanets  of  his 
fingers  ;  all  his  movements  disclose  the  majo  ;  the  action 
of  his  shoulders,  his  gestures,  all  his  ways,  from  that  in 
which  he  puts  on  his  hat,  to  his  style  of  spitting  through 
his  teeth,  all  are  of  the  pure  Andalusian  type. 

From  these  general  customs  and  tastes  are  developed 
remarkable  peculiarities,  which  will  hereafter  embellish 
the  national  dramas  and  romances,  and  give  them  an 
original  shade  of  color.  I  propose  at  present  only  to 
notice  a  few  of  these  special  developments,  in  order  to 

1  Cajeteija,  little  musical  box. 


32  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

complete  the  idea  of  the  customs  of  the  country,  and 
so  to  explain  subsequently  the  nature,  causes,  and 
effects  of  its  civil  wars. 

/  t^^ 

THE  RASTREADOR.  ^  fr/X 

The  most  conspicuous  and  extraordinary  of  the  oc- 
cupations to  be  described,  is  that  of  the  Rastreador,  or 
JracJ&rfmder.  All  the  gauchos  of  the  interior  are  Ras- 
treadores.  In  such  extensive  plains,  where  paths  and 
lines  of  travel  cross  each  other  in  all  directions,  and 
where  the  pastures  in  which  the  herds  feed  are  un- 
fenced,  it  is  necessary  often  to  follow  the  tracks  of  an 
animal,  and  to  distinguish  them  among  a  thousand 
others,  and  to  know  whether  it  was  going  at  an  easy 
or  a  rapid  pace,  at  liberty  or  led,  laden  or  carrying  no 
weight. 

This  is  a  generally  understood  branch  of  household 
knowledge.  I  once  happened  to  turn  out  of  a  by-way 
into  the  Buenos  Ay  res  road,  and  my  guide,  following 
the  usual  practice,  cast  a  look  at  the  ground.  "  There 
was  a  very  nice  little  Moorish  mule  in  that  train," 
said  he,  directly.  "  D.  N.  Zapata's  it  was  —  she  is 
good  for  the  saddle,  and  it  is  very  plain  she  was  sad- 
dled this  time  ;  they  went  by  yesterday."  The  man 
was  travelling  from  the  Sierra  de  San  Luis,  while  the 
train  had  passed  on  its  way  from  Buenos  Ayres,  and 
it  was  a  year  since  he  had  seen  the  Moorish  mule, 
whose  track  was  mixed  up  with  those  of  a  whole  train 
in  a  path  two  feet  wide.  And  this  seemingly  in- 
credible tale  only  illustrates  the  common  degree  of 
skill ;  —  the  guide  was  a  mere  herdsman,  and  no  pro- 
fessional Rastreador. 


THE  RASTREADOR.  33 

The  Rastreador  proper  is  a  grave,  circumspect  per- 
sonage, whose  declarations  are  considered  conclusive 
evidence  in  the  inferior  courts.  Consciousness  of  the 
knowledge  he  possesses,  gives  him  a  certain  reserved 
and  mysterious  dignity.  Every  one  treats  him  with 
respect ;  the  poor  man  because  he  fears  to  offend  one 
who  might  injure  him  by  a  slander  or  an  accusation  ; 
and  the  proprietor  because  of  the  possible  value  of  his 
testimony.  A  theft  has  been  committed  during  the 
night ;  no  one  knows  anything  of  it ;  the  victims  of  it 
hasten  to  look  for  one  of  the  robber's  footprints,  and  on 
finding  it,  they  cover  it  with  something  to  keep  the 
wind  from  disturbing  it.  They  then  send  for  the  Rasr 
treador,  who  detects  the  track  and  follows  it,  only  occa- 
sionally looking  at  the  ground  as  if  his  eyes  saw  in  full 
relief  the  footsteps  invisible  to  others.  He  follows  the 
course  of  the  streets,  crosses  gardens,  enters  a  house, 
and  pointing  to  a  man  whom  he  finds  there,  says, 
coldly,  "  That  is  he !  "  The  crime  is  proved,  and  the 
criminal  seldom  denies  the  charge.  In  his  estimation, 
even  more  than  in  that  of  the  judge,  the  Rastreador's 
deposition  is  a  positive  demonstration ;  it  would  be 
ridiculous  and  absurd  to  dispute  it.  The  culprit  ac- 
cordingly yields  to  a  witness  whom  he  regards  as  the 
finger  of  God  pointing  him  out.  I  have  had  some 
acquaintance  myself  with  Calibar,  who  has  practiced 
his  profession  for  forty  consecutive  years  in  one  prov- 
ince. He  is  now  about  eighty  years  old,  and  of  vener- 
able and  dignified  appearance,  though  bowed  down  by 
age.  When  his  fabulous  reputation  is  mentioned  to 
him,  he  replies,  "  I  am  good  for  nothing  now  ;  there 
are  the  boys."  The  "  boys,"  who  have  studied  under 

3 


84  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

so  famous  a  master,  are  his  sons.  The  story  is  that 
his  best  horse-trappings  were  once  stolen  while  he  was 
absent  on  a.  journey  to  Buenos  Ayres.  His  wife  cov- 
ered one  of  the  thief's  footprints  with  a  tray.  Two 
months  afterwards  Calibar  returned,  looked  at  the  foot- 
print, which  by  that  time  had  become  blurred,  and 
could  not  have  been  made  out  by  other  eyes,  after 
which  he  spoke  no  more  of  the  circumstance.  A  year 
and  a  half  later,  Calibar  might  have  been  seen  walking 
through  a  street  in  the  outskirts  of  the  town  with  his 
eyes  on  the  ground.  He  turned  into  a  house,  where 
he  found  his  trappings,  by  that  time  blackened  by  use 
and  nearly  worn  out.  He  had  come  upon  the  trail  of 
the  thief  nearly  two  years  after  the  robbery. 

In  1830,  a  criminal  under  sentence  of  death 'having 
escaped  from  prison,  Calibar  was  employed  to  search 
for  him.  The  unhappy  man,  aware  that  he  would  be 
tracked,  had  taken  all  the  precautions  suggested  to 
him  by  the  image  of  the  scaffold,  but  they  were  taken 
in  vain.  Perhaps  they  only  assured  his  destruction  ; 
for  as  Calibar's  reputation  was  hazarded,  his  jealous 
self-esteem  made  him  ardent  in  accomplishing  a  task 
which  would  demonstrate  the  wonderful  sharpness  of 
his  sight,  though  it  insured  the  destruction  of  another 
man.  The  fugitive  had  left  as  few  traces  as  the  nature 
of  the  ground  would  permit ;  he  had  crossed  whole 
squares  on  tiptoe  ;  afterwards  he  had  leaped  upon  low 
walls ;  he  had  turned  back  after  crossing  one  place ; 
but  Calibar  followed  without  losing  the  trail.  If  he 
missed  the  way  for  a  moment,  he  found  it  again,  ex- 
claiming, "  Where  are  you  ?  "  Finally,  the  trail 
entered  a  water-course  in  the  suburbs,  in  which  the 


THE   BAQUEANO.  35 

fugitive  had  sought  to  elude  the  Rastreador.  In  vain  ! 
Calibar  went  along  the  bank  without  uneasiness  or 
hesitation.  At  last  he  stops,  examines  some  plants, 
and  says,  "  He  came  out  here ;  there  are  no  footprints, 
but  these  drops  of  water  on  the  herbage  are  the  sign  !  " 
On  coming  to  a  vineyard,  Calibar  reconnoitered  the 
Sfc^mud  walls  around  it,  and  said,  "  He  is  in  there."  The 
party  of  soldiers  looked  till  they  were  tired,  and  came 
back  to  report  the  failure  of  the  search.  "  He  has  not 
come  out,"  was  the  only  answer  of  the  Rastreador, 
who  would  not  even  take  the  trouble  to  make  a  second 
investigation.  In  fact,  he  had  not  come  out,  but  he 
•*  ^  was  taken  and  executed  the  next  day. 

In  1831,  some  political  prisoners  were  planning  an 
escape  ;  all  was  ready,  and  outside  help  had  been  se- 
cured. On  the  point  of  making  the  attempt,  "  What 
shall  be  done  about  Calibar  ? "  said  one.  "  To  be 
sure,  Calibar  !  "  said  the  others,  in  dismay.  Their 
relations  prevailed  upon  Calibar  to  be  ill  for  four  full 
days  after  the  escape,  which  was  thus  without  difficulty 
effected. 

What  a  mystery  is  this  of  the  Rastreador !  What 
microscopic  power  is  developed  in  the  visual  organs  of 
these  men  !  How  sublime  a  creature  is  that  which 
God  made  in  his  image  and  likeness ! 

THE  BAQUEANO,  OR  PATH-FINDER. 

Next  to  the  Rastreador  comes  the  Baqueanp,  a  per- 
sonage of  distinction,  and  one  who  controls  the  fate  of 
individuals  and  of  provinces.  The  Baqueano  is  a 
grave  and  reserved  gaucho,  who  knows  every  span  of 
twenty  thousand  square  leagues  of  plain,  wood,  and 


36  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

mountain  !  He  is  the  most  thorough  topographer,  the  < 
only  map  which  a  general  consults  in  directing  the 
movements  of  his  campaign.  The  Baqueano  is  always 
at  his  side.  Modest  and  mute  as  a  garden-wall,  he  is* 
in  possession  of  every  secret  of  the  campaign  ;  the 
fate  of  the  army,  the  issue  of  a  battle,  the  conquest  of 
a  province,  all  depend  upon  him.  The  Baqueano 
almost  always  discharges  his  duty  with  fidelity,  but. 
the  general  does  not  place  full  confidence  in  him. 

Conceive  the  situation  of  a  commander  condemned 
to  be  attended  by  a  traitor,  from  whom  he  has  to 
obtain  the  information  without  which  he  cannot  suc- 
ceed. A  Baqueano  finds  a  little  path  crossing  the 
road  which  he  is  following ;  he  knows  to  what  distant 
watering-place  it  leads.  If  he  finds  a  thousand  such 
paths,  some  of  them  even  a  hundred  leagues  apart,  he 
is  acquainted  with  each,  and  knows  whence  it  comes 
and  whither  it  goes.  He  knows  the  hidden  fords  of  a 
hundred  rivers  and  streams,  above  or  below  the  ordi- 
nary places  of  crossing.  He  can  point  out  a  convenient 
path  through  a  hundred  distinct  and  extensive  swamps. 
In  the  deepest  darkness  of  the  night,  surrounded 
by  boundless  plains  or  by  forests,  while  his  companions 
rare  astray  and  at  a  loss,  he  rides  round  them  inspect- 
ing the  trees  ;  if  there  are  none,  he  dismounts  and 
stoops  to  examine  the  shrubs,  and  satisfies  himself  ef 
his  points  of  compass.  He  then  mounts,  and  reassures 
his  party  by  saying,  "  We  are  in  a  straight  line  from 
such  a  place,  so  many  leagues  from  the  houses  ;  we 
must  travel  southwards."  And  he  sets  out  in  the  direc- 
tion he  has  indicated,  without  uneasiness,  without 
hurrying  to  confirm  his  judgment  by  arriving  at  the 


THE  BAQUEANO.  37 

town,  and  without  answering  the  objections  suggested 
to  the  others  by  fear  or  bewilderment. 

If  even  this  is  insufficient,  or  if  he  finds  himself  upon 
the  pampa  in  impenetrable  darkness,  he  pulls  up  herbs 
from  different  places,  smells  their  roots  and  the  earth 
about  them,  chews  their  foliage,  and  by  often  repeating 
A  this  proceeding,  assures  himself  of  the  neighborhood  of 
7  some  lake  or  stream,  either  of  salt  or  of  fresh  water, 
•     of  which  he  avails  himself,  upon  finding  it,  to  set  him- 
self exactly  right.    It  is  said  that  General  Rosas  knows 
the  pasturage  of  every  estate  in  the  south  ofBuenosv" 
Ayres  by  its  taste. 

If  the  Baqueano  belongs  to  the  pampa,  where  no 
roads  exist,  and  a  traveller  asks  him  to  show  the  way 
straight  to  a  place  fifty  leagues  off,  he  pauses  a  moment, 
reconnoitres  the  horizon,  examines  the  ground,  fixes 
his  eyes  upon  some  point,  and  gallops  off  straight  as 
an  arrow,  until  he  changes  his  course  for  reasons  known 
only  to  himself,  and  keeps  up  his  gallop  day  and  night 
till  he  arrives  at  the  place  named. 

The  Baqueano  also  announces  the  approach  of  the 
enemy ;  that  is,  that  they  are  within  ten  leagues  ;  and 
he  also  detects  the  direction  in  which  they  are  approach- 
ing by  means  of  the  movements  of  the  ostriches,  deer, 
and  guanacos,  which  fly  in  certain  directions.  At 
shorter  distances  he  notices  the  clouds  of  dust,  and  es- 
timates the  number  of  the  hostile  force  by  their  density. 
"  They  have  two  thousand  men,"  he  says  ;  "  five  hun- 
dred," "two  hundred;"  and  the  commander  acts 
upon  this  assumption,  which  is  almost  always  infallible. 
If  the  condors  and  crows  are  wheeling  in  circles  through 
the  air,  he  can  tell  whether  there  are  troops  hidden 


38  LIFE  IN   THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

thereabouts,  or  whether  a  recently  abandoned  camp, 
or  simply  a  dead  animal  is  the  attractive  object.  The 
Baqueano  knows  how  far  one  place  is  from  another, 
the  number  of  days  and  hours  which  the  journey  re- 
quires, and  besides,  some  unknown  by-way  through 
which  the  passage  may  be'  made  in  half  the  time,  so  as 
to  end  in  a  surprise  ;  and  expeditions  for  the  surprise 
of  towns  fifty  leagues  away  are  thus  undertaken,  and 
generally  with  success,  by  parties  of  peasants.  This 
may  be  thought  an  exaggeration.  No  !  General  Ri- 
vera, of  the  Banda  Oriental,  is  a  simple  Baqueano,  who 
knows  every  tree  that  grows  anywhere  in  the  Republic 
of  Uruguay.  The  Brazilians  would  not  have  occupied 
that  country  if  he  had  not  aided  them ;  nor,  but  for 
him,  would  the  Argentines  have  set  it  free. 

This  man,  at  once  general  and  Baqueano,  over- 
powered Oribe,  who  was  supported  by  Rosas,  after  a 
contest  of  three  years ;  and  at  the  present  da}%  were 
he  in  the  field  against  it,  the  whole  power  of  Buenos 
Ayres,  with  its  numerous  armies,  which  are  spread  all 
over  Uruguay,  might  gradually  fade  away  by  means  of 
a  surprise  to-day,  by  a  post  cut  off  to-morrow,  by  some 
victory  which  he  could  turn  to  his  own  advantage  bv 
his  knowledge  of  some  route  to  the  enemy's  rear,  or 
by  some  other  unnoticed  or  trifling  circumstance. 

General  Rivera  began  his  study  of  the  ground  in 
1804,  when  making  war  upon  the  government  as  an 
outlaw  ;  afterwards  he  waged  war  upon  the  outlaws  as 
a  government  officer  ;  next,  upon  the  king  as  a  patriot ; 
and -later  upon  the  patriots  as  a  peasant;  upon  the 
Argentines  as  a  Brazilian  chieftain ;  and  upon  the 
Brazilians,  as  an  Argentine  general ;  upon  Lavalleja, 


THE  GAUCHO  OUTLAW.  39 

as  President ;  upon  President  Oribe,  as  a  proscribed 
chieftain  ;  and,  finally,  upon  Rosas,  the  ally  of  Oribe, 
as  a  general  of  Uruguay  ;  in  all  which  positions  he  has 
had  abundance  of  time  to  learn  something  of  the  art 
of  the  Baqueano. 

THE  GAUCHO  OUTLAW. 

The  example  of  this  type  of  character,  to  be  found 
in  certain  places,  is  an  outlaw,  a  squatter,  a  kind  o^ 
misanthrope.  He  is  Cooper's  Hawkeye  or  Trapper, 
with  all  the  knowledge  of  the  wilderness  possessed  by 
the  latter  ;  and  with  all  his  aversion  to  the  settlements 
of  the  whites,  but  without  his  natural  jnorality  or  his 
friendly  relations  with  the  savages.  The  name  of 
gaucho  outlaw  is  not  applied  to  him  wholly  as  an  un- 
complimentary epithet.  The  law  has  been  for  many 
years  in  pursuit  of  him.  His  name  is  dreaded  — 
spoken  under  the  breath,  but  not  in  hate,  and  almost 
respectfully.  He  is  a  mysterious  personage  ;  his  abode 
is  the  pampa  ;  his  lodgings  are  the  thistle  fields  ;  he 
lives  on  partridges  and  hedgehogs,  and  whenever  he  is 
disposed  to  regale  himself  upon  a  tongue,  he  lassos  a 
cow,  throws  her  without  assistance,  kills  her,  takes  his 
favorite  morsel,  and  leaves  the  rest  for  the  carrion - 
birds.  The  gaucho  outlaw  will  make  his  appearance 
in  a  place  just  left  by  soldiers,  will  talk  in  a  friendly 
way  with  the  admiring  group  of  good  gauchos  around 
him  ;  provide  himself  with  tobacco,  yerba  mate",  which 
makes  a  refreshing  beverage,  and  if  he  discovers  the 
soldiers,  he  mounts  his  horse  quietly  and  directs  his 
steps  leisurely  to  the  wilderness,  not  even  deigning  to 
look  back.  He  is  seldom  pursued  ;  that  would  be 


40  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC, 

killing  horses  to  ho  purpose,  for  the  beast  of  the  gaucho 
outlaw  is  a  bay  courser,  as  noted  in  his  own  way  as 
his  master.  If  he  ever  happens  to  fall  unawares  into 
the  hands  of  the  soldiers,  he  sets  upon  the  densest  masses 
of  his  assailants,  and  breaks  through  them,  with  the 
help  of  a  few  slashes  left  by  his  knife  upon  the  faces 
or  bodies  of  his  opponents ;  and  lying  along  the  ridge 
of  his  horse's  back  to  avoid  the  bullets  sent  after  him, 
he  hastens  towards  the  wilderness,  until,  having  left 
his  pursuers  at  a  convenient  distance,  he  pulls  up  and 
travels  at  his  ease.  The  poets  of  the  vicinity  add  this 
new  exploit  to  the  biography  of  the  desert  hero,  and 
his  renown  flies  through  all  the  vast  region  around. 
Sometimes  he  appears  before  the  scene  of  a  rustic  fes- 
tival with  a  young  woman  whom  he  has  carried  off', 
and  takes  a  place  in  the  dance  with  his  partner,  goes 
through  the  figures  of  the  cielito,  and  disappears,  un- 
noticed. Another  day  he  brings  the  girl  he  has 
seduced,  to  the  house  of  her  offended  family,  sets  her 
down  from  his  horse's  croup,  and  reckless  of  the 
parents'  curses  by  which  he  is  followed,  quietly  betakes 
himself  to  his  boundless  abode. 

This  white-skinned  savage,  at  war  with  society  and 
proscribed  by  the  laws,  is  no  more  depraved  at  heart 
/than  the  inhabitants  of  the  settlements.  The  reckless 
outlaw  who  attacks  a  whole  troop,  does  no  harm  to  the 
traveller.  The  gaucho  outlaw  is  no  bandit,  or  high- 
wayman ;  murderous  assaults  do  not  suit  his  temper, 
as  robbery  would  not  suit  the  character  of  the  churri- 
ador  (sheep-stealer). ,  To  be  sure,  he  steals  ;  but  this  is 
his  profession,  his  trade,  his  science.  He  steals  horses. 
He  arrives,  for  instance,  at  the  camp  of  a  train  from  the 


THE  CANTOR. 

interior  ;  its  master  offers  to  buy  of  him  a  horse  of  som> 
unusual  color,  of  a  particular  shape  and  quality,  with 
a  white  star  on  the  shoulder.  The  gaucho  collects  his 
thoughts,  considers  a  moment,  and  replies,  after  a 
short  silence  :  "  There  is  no  such  horse  alive."  What 
thoughts  have  been  passing  through  the  gaucho's 
mind  ?  In  that  moment  his  memory  has  traversed  a 
thousand  estates  upon  the  pampa ;  has  seen  and  ex- 
amined every  horse  in  the  province,  with  its  marks, 
color,  and  special  traits,  and  he  has  convinced  himself 
that  not  one  of  them  has  a  star  on  its  shoulder ;  some 
have  one  on  their  foreheads,  others  have  white  spots  on 
their  haunches.  Is  this  power  of  memory  amazing  ? 
No  !  Napoleon  knew  two  hundred  thousand  soldiers  by 
name,  and  remembered,  when  he  saw  any  one  of  them, 
all  the  facts  relating  to  him.  Therefore,  if  nothing  im- 
possible is  required  of  him,  the  gaucho  will  deliver 
upon  a  designated  day  and  spot,  just  such  a  horse  as 
has  been  asked  for,  and  with  no  less  punctuality  if  he 
has  been  paid  in  advance.  His  honor  is  as  sensitive 
upon  this  point  as  that  of  a  gambler  about  his  debts. 

Sometimes  he  travels  to  the  country  about  Cordova 
or  Santa  Fe*.  Then  he  may  be  seen  crossing  the 
pampa  behind  a  small  body  of  horses ;  if  any  one  meets 
him,  he  follows  his  course  without  approaching  the  new 
comer  unless  he  is  requested  to  do  so. 

THE  CANTOR  (THE  MINSTREL). 

And  now  we  have  the  idealization  of  this  life  of 
resistance,  civilization,  barbarism,  and  danger.  The 
gaucho  Cantor  corresponds  to  the  singer,  bard,  or  trou- 
badour of  the  Middle  Ages,  and  moves  in  the  same 


LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

.enes,  amidst  the  struggles  of  the  cities  with  provin- 
cial feudalism,  between  the  life  which  is  passing  away 
and  the  new  life  gradually  arising.  The  Cantor  -goes 
from  one  settlement  to  another  "de  tapera  en  galpon," 
singing  the  deeds  of  the  heroes  of  the  pampa  whom  the 
law  persecutes,  the  lament  of  the  widow  whose  sons 
have  been  taken  off  by  the  Indians  in  a  recent  raid, 
the  defeat  and  death  of  the  brave  Ranch,  the  final 
overthrow  of  Facundo  Quiroga,  and  the  fate  of  Santos 
Perez. 

The  Cantor  is  performing  in  his  simple  way  the 
same  labor  of  recording  customs,  history,  and  biogra- 
phy, which  was  performed  by  the  mediaeval  bard,  and 
his  verses  would  hereafter  be  collected  as  documents 
and  authorities  for  the  future  historian,  but  that  there 
stands  beside  him  another  more  cultivated  form  of  soci- 
ety with  a  knowledge  of  events  superior  to  that  dis- 
played by  this  less  favored  chronicler  in  his  artless 
rhapsodies.  Two  distinct  forms  of  civilization  meet 
upon  a  common  ground  in  the  Argentine  Republic  : 
one,  still  in  its  infancy,  which,  ignorant  of  that  so  far 
above  it,  goes  on  repeating  the  crude  efforts  of  the 
Middle  Ages ;  the  other,  disregarding  what  lies  at  its 
feet,  while  it  strives  to  realize  in  itself  the  latest  results 
of  European  civilization ;  the  nineteenth  and  twelfth 
centuries  dwell  together — one  inside  the  cities,  the 
other  without  them. 

The  Cantor  has  no  fixed  abode ;  he  lodges  where 
night  surprises  him  ;  his  fortune  consists  in  his  verses 
and  in  his  voice.  Wherever  the  wild  mazes  of  the 
cielito  are  threaded,  wherever  there  is  a  glass  of  wine 
to  drink,  the  Cantor  has  his  place  and  his  particular 


THE  CANTOR.  43 

part  in  the  festival.  The  Argentine  gaucho  only 
drinks  when  excited  by  music  and  verse,1  and  every 
grocery  has  its  guitar  ready  for  the  hands  of  the  Cantor 
who  perceives  from  afar  where  the  help  of  his  "gay 
science  "  is  needed,  by  the  group  of  horses  about  the 
door. 

The  Cantor  intersperses  his  heroic  songs  with  the 
tale  of  his  own  exploits.  Unluckily  his  profession  of 
Argentine  bard  does  not  shield  him  from  the  law.  He 
can  tell  of  a  couple  of  stabs  he  has  dealt,  of  one  or  two 
misfortunes  (homicides !)  of  his,  and  of  some  horse  or 
girl  he  has  carried  off. 

In  1840,  a  Cantor  was  sitting  on  the  ground,  cross- 
legged,  on  the  banks  of  the  majestic  Parana,  in  the 
midst  of  a  group  of  gauchos  whom  he  was  keeping  in 
eager  suspense  by  the  long  and  animated  tale  of  his 
labors  and  adventures.  He  had  already  related  the 
abduction  of  his  love,  with  the  difficulties  overcome  on 
the  occasion ;  also  his  misfortune  and  the  dispute  that 
led  to  it;  and  was  relating  his  encounter  with  the 
soldiery,  and  the  stabs  with  which  he  defended  himself, 
when  the  noisy  advance  and  the  shouts  of  a  body  of 
troops  made  him  aware  that  this  time  he  was  sur- 


1  Without  wandering  from  our  subject,  we  may  here  call  to  mind  the 
noteworthy  resemblance  between  the  Argentines  and  the  Arabs.  In  Al- 
giers, Oran,  Mascara,  and  the  desert  encampments,  I  constantly  saw  the 
Arabs  collected  in  coffee-shops  —  strong  drink  being  forbidden  them, — 
closely  crowded  about  the  singer,  or  more  usually  two  singers,  who  ac- 
company themselves  with  guitars  in  a  duet,  and  recite  national  songs  of 
a  mournful  character  like  our  tristes  before  mentioned.  The  Arabian 
bridle  is  of  plaited  leather  thongs,  continued  into  a  whip-lash  like  ours; 
the  bit  which  we  use  is  that  of  the  Arabs,  and  many  of  our  customs  show 
the  intercourse  of  our  ancestors  with  the  Moors  of  Andalusia.  I  have  met 
some  Arabs  whom  I  could  have  sworn  I  had  seen  in  my  own  country. 


44  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

rounded.  The  troops  had,  in  fact>  closed  up  in  the 
form  of  a  horseshoe,  open  towards  the  Parana,  the 
steep  banks  of  which  rose  twenty  yards  above  the  water. 
The  Cantor,  undismayed  by  the  outcry,  was  mounted 
in  an  instant,  and  after  casting  a  searching  look  at  the 
ring  of  soldiers  and  their  ready  pieces,  he  wheeled  his 
horse  towards  the  river's  bank,  covered  the  animal's 
eyes  with  his  poncho,  and  drove  his  spurs  into  him. 
A  few  moments  after,  the  horse,  freed  from  his  bit  so 
that  he  could  swim  more  easily,  emerged  from  the 
depths  of  the  Parana,  the  minstrel  holding  him  by  the 
tail,  and  looking  back  to  the  scene  on  shore  which  he 
had  quitted,  as  composedly  as  if  he  had  been  in  an 
eight-oared  boat.  Some  shots  fired  by  the  troops  did 
not  hinder  him  from  arriving  safe  and  sound  at  the 
first  island  in  sight. 

To  conclude,  the  original  poetry  of  the  minstrel  is 
clumsy,  monotonous,  and  irregular,  when  he  resigns 
himself  to  the  inspiration  of  the  moment.  It  is  occu- 
pied rather  with  narration  than  with  the  expression  of 
feeling,  and  is  replete  with  imagery  relating  to  the 
open  country,  to  the  horse,  and  to  the  scenes  of  the 
wilderness,  which  makes  it  metaphorical  and  grandiose. 
When  he  is  describing  his  own  exploits  or  those  of 
some  renowned  evil-doer,  he  resembles  the  Neapolitan 
improvisatore,  his  style  being  unfettered,  commonly 
prosaic,  but  occasionally  rising  to  the  poetic  level  for 
some  moments,  to  sink  again  into  dull  and  scarcely 
metrical  recitation.  The  Cantor  possesses,  moreover, 
a  repertory  of  popular  poems  in  octosyllabic  lines  vari- 
ously combined  into  stanzas  of  five  lines,  of  ten,  or  of 
eight.  Among  them  are  many  compositions  of  merit 
which  show  some  inspiration  and  feeling. 


THE   CANTOR.  45 

To  these  original  types  might  be  added  many  others 
of  equal  peculiarity,  but  they  would  not,  like  the 
former,  illustrate  the  national  customs,  a  knowledge  of 
which  is  necessary  for  the  right  comprehension  of  our 
political  personages  and  of  the  primitive  and  Ameri- 
can nature  of  the  bloody  strife  which  distracts  the 
Argentine  Republic.  In  the  course  of  this  narrative 
the  reader  will  himself  discover  where  are  to  be  met 
the  Track-viewer,  Path-finder,  Gaucho-outlaw,  and 
Minstrel.  He  will  see  in  the  chieftains  whose  fame 
has  passed  the  Argentine  frontiers,  and  even  in  those 
who  have  filled  the  world  with  the  horror  of  their 
names,  the  vivid  reflection  of  the  internal  condition, 
customs,  and  organization  of  the  country. 


CHAPTER  III. 

ASSOCIATION. 

"The  gaucho  lives  on  privations,  but  his  luxury  is  freedom.  Proud  of  an 
unrestricted  independence,  his  feelings,  though  wild  as  his  life,  are  yet  noble  and 
good.". —  Head. 

LA  PULPERIA  (THE  COUNTRY  STORE). 

\  IN  the  first  chapter  we  left  the  Argentine  rustic,  at 
the  moment  of  his  arrival  at  maturity,  in  the  possession 
of  such  a  character  as  had  resulted  from  the  natural 
circumstances  about  him,  and  from  his  want  of  any 
true  society.  We  have  seen  that  he  is  a  man  inde- 
pendent of  every  want,  under  no  control,  with  no 
notion  of  government,  all  regular  and  systematic  order 
being  wholly  impossible  among  such  people.  With 
these  habits  of  heedlessness  and  independence  he 
enters  on  another  step  of  rural  life,  which,  common- 
place as  it  is,  is  the  starting-point  of  all  the  great 
events  which  we  are  shortly  to  describe. 

It  is  to  be  remembered  that  I  am  speaking  of  the 
essentially  pastoral  part  of  the  people,  and  that  I 
select  for  consideration  only  their  fundamental  charac- 
teristics, neglecting  the  accidental  modifications  they 
receive,  the  partial  effects  of  which  will  be  indicated 
separately.  I  am  speaking  of  the  combination  of 
landed  proprietaries  which  cover  the  surface  of  a 
province,  four  leagues,  more  or  less,  being  occupied  by 
each. 


PASTORAL  SOCIETY. 

The  society  of  the  agricultural  districts  is  also  much 
subdivided  and  dispersed,  but  on  a  smaller  scale.  One 
laborer  assists  another,  and  the  implements  of  tillage, 
the  numerous  tools,  stores,  and  animals  employed,  the 
variety  of  products  and  the  various  arts  which  agri- 
culture calls  to  its  aid,  establish  necessary  relations 
between  the  inhabitants  of  a  valley  and  make  it  indis- 
pensable for  them  to  have  a  rudiment  of  a  town  to 
serve  as  a  centre.  Moreover,  the  cares  and  occupa- 
tions of  a^ncjilture^rjeo^uire  such,  a  number  of  hands 
that  idleness  becomes  impossible,  and  the  men  of  an 
estate  are  compelled  to  remain  within  its  limits.  The 
exact  contrary  takes  place  in  the  singular  society  we 
are  describing.  The  bounds  of  ownership  are  un- 
marked ;  the  more  numerous  the  flocks  and  herds  the 
fewer  hands_^,ra-r£quired  ;  upon  the  women  devolve 
all  the  domestic  duties  and  manufactures ;  the  men  are 
left  without  occupations,  pleasures,  ideas,  or  the  neces- 
sity of  application.  Home  life  is  wearisome  and  even 
repulsive  to  them.  They  need,  then,  factitious  society 
to  remedy  this  radical  want  of  association.  Their 
early  acquired  habit  of  riding  gives  them  an  additional 
incentive  to  leave  their  houses. 

It  is  the  children's  business  to  drive  the  horses  to 
the  corral  before  the  sun  has  quite  risen ;  and  all  the 
men,  even  the  lads,  saddle  their  horses,  even  when 
they  have  no  object  in  view.  The  horse  is  an  integral 
part  of  the  Argentine  rustic;  it  is  for  him  what  the 
cravat  is  to  an  inhabitant  of  the  city.  In  1841,  El 
Chacho,  a  chieftain  of  the  Llanos,  emigrated  to  Chili. 
"How  are  you  getting  on,  friend?"  somebody  asked 
him.  "  How  should  I  be  getting  on  ?  "  returned  he,  in 


LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

.ones  of  distress  and  melancholy.  "  Bound  to  Chili, 
and  on  foot !  "  Only  an  Argentine  gaucho  can  appre- 
ciate all  the  misfortune  and  distress  which  these  two 
phrases  express. 

\  Here  again  we  have  the  life  of  the  Arab  or  Tartar. 
The  following  words  of  Victor  Hugo  might  have  been 
written  in  the  pampas  :  — 

"  He  cannot  fight  on  foot ;  he  and  his  horse  are  but  one  per- 
son. He  lives  on  horseback  ;  he  trades,  buys,  and  sells  on  horse- 
back ;  drinks,  eats,  sleeps,  and  dreams  on  horseback."  —  Le  Rhin. 

The  men  then  set  forth  without  exactly  knowing 
where  they  are  going.  A  turn  around  the  herds,  a 
visit  to  a  breeding-pen  or  to  the  haunt  of  a  favorite 
horse,  takes  up  a  small  part  of  the  day ;  the  rest  is 
consumed  in  a  rendezvous  at  a  tavern  or  grocery  store. 
There  assemble  inhabitants  of  the  neighboring  par- 
ishes ;  there  are  given  and  received  bits  of  information 
about  animals  that  have  gone  astray ;  the  traces  of  the 
cattle  are  described  upon  the  ground ;  intelligence  of 
,the  hunting-ground  of  the  tiger  or  of  the  place  where 
the  tiger's  tracks  have  been  seen,  is  communicated. 
There,  in  short,  is  the  Cantor ;  there  the  men  frater- 
nize while  the  glass  goes  round  at  the  expense  of  those 
who  have  the  means  as  well  as  the  disposition  to  pay 
for  it. 

In  a  life  so  void  of  emotion,  gambling  exercises  the 
enervated  mind,  and  liquor  arouses  the  dormant  imagi- 
nation. This  accidental  reunion  becomes  by  its  daily 
'  repetition  a  society  more  contracted  than  that  from 
which  each  of  its  individual  members  came;  yet  in 
this  assembly,  without  public  aim,  without  social  inter- 
est, are  first  formed  the  elements  of  those  characters 


THE  GAUCHO'S    KNIFE.  49 

which  are  to  appear  later  on  the  political  stage.  We 
shall  see  how.  The  gaucho  esteems_skilj_in_. horseman- 
ship and  physical  strength,  and  especially  courage, 
above  all  other  things,  as  we  have  said  before.  This 
meeting,  this  daily  club,  is  a  real  Olympic  circus  where 
each  man's  merit  is  tested  and  assayed. 

The1  gaucho  is  always  armed  with  the  knife  in- 
herited from  the  Spaniard.  More  fully  even  than  in 
Spain  is  here  realized  that  peninsular  peculiarity,  that 
cry,  characteristic  of  Saragossa  —  war  to  the  knife. 
The  knife,  besides  being  a  weapon,  is  a  tool  used  for 
all  purposes ;  without  it,  life  cannot  go  on.  It  is  like 
the  elephant's  trunk,  arm,  hand,  finger,  and  all.  The 
gaucho  boasts  of  his  valor  like  a  trooper,  and  every 
little  while  his  knife  glitters  through  the  air  in  circles, 
upon  the  least  provocation,  or  with  none  at  all,  for  the 
simple  purpose  of  comparing  a  stranger's  prowess  with 
his  own ;  he  plays  at  stabbing  as  he  would  play  at 
dice.  So  deeply  and  intimately  have  these  pugnacious 
habits  entered  the  life  of  the  Argentine  gaucho  that 
custom  has  created  a  code  of  honor  and  a  fencing 
system  which  protect  life.  The  rowdy  of  other  lands 
takes  to  his  knife  for  the  purpose  of  killing,  and  he 
kills ;  the  Argentine  gaucho  unsheathes  his  to  fight, 
and  he  only  wounds.  To  attempt  the  life  of  his 
adversary  he  must  be  very  drunk,  or  his  instincts  must 
be  really  wicked,  or  his  rancor  very  deep.  His  aim  is 
only  to  mark  his  opponent,  to  give  him  a  slash  in  the 
face,  to  leave  an  indelible  token  upon  him.  The 
numerous  scars  to  be  seen  upon  these  gauchos,  accord- 
ingly, are  seldom  deep.  A  fight  is  begun,  then,  for  the 
sake  of  shining,  for  the  glory  of  victory,  for  the  love 


50  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

of  fame.  A  close  ring  is  made  around  the  combatants, 
and  excited  and  eager  eyes  follow  the  glitter  of  the 
knives  which  do  not  cease  to  move.  When  blood 
flows  in  torrents  the  spectators  feel  obliged  to  stop  the 
fight.  If  a  misfortune  has  resulted,  the  sympathies  are 
with  the  survivor;  the  best  horse  is  available  for  his 
escape  to  a  distant  place  where  he  is  received  with 
respect  or  pity.  If  the  law  overtakes  him  he  often 
shows  fight,  and  if  he  rushes  through  soldiers  and 
escapes,  he  has  from  that  time  a  wide-spread  renown. 
Time  passes,  the  judge  in  place  has  been  succeeded  by 
another,  and  he  may  again  show  himself  in  the  town- 
ship without  further  molestation  :  he  has  a  full  dis- 
charge. 

Homicide  is  but'  a  misfortune,  unless  the  deed  has 
been  so  often  repeated  that  the  perpetrator  has  gained 
the  reputation  of  an  assassin.  The  landed  proprietor, 
Don  Juan  Manuel  Rosas,  before  being  a  public  man, 
had  made  his  residence  a  sort  of  asylum  for  homicides 
without  ever  extending  his  protection  to  robbers  ;  a 
preference  which  would  easily  be  explained  by  his 
character  of  gaucho  proprietor,  if  his  subsequent  con- 
duct had  not  disclosed  affinities  with  evil  which  have 
filled  the  world  with  terror. 

With  respect  to  equestrian  sports,  it  will  suffice  to 
point  out  one  of  the  many  which  are  practiced,  that  the 
reader  may  judge  what  daring  is  required  of  those  who 
engage  in  them.  A  gaucho  rides  at  full  speed  before 
his  comrades.  One  of  them  flings  a  set  of  bolas  at 
him  so  as  to  shackle  the  horse  in  the  midst  of  his 
career.  Issuing  from  the  whirlwind  of  dust  raised  by 
his  fall,  appears  the  rider  at  a  run,  followed  by  the 


A  CENTAUR  SOVEREIGNTY.  5tf 

horse,  the  latter  carried  on  by  the  impulse  of  his  inter- 
rupted career  according  to  the  laws  of  physics.  In 
this  pastime,  life  is  staked,  and  sometimes  lost. 

Will  it  be  believed  that  these  displays  of  valor  or 
skill  and  boldness  in  horsemanship  are  the  basis  of  the 
great  exploits  which  have  filled  the  Argentine  Repub- 
lic with  their  name  and  changed  the  face  of  the  coun- 
try ?  Nothing  is  more  certain,  however.  I  do  not 
mean  to  assert  that  assassination  and  crime  have  always 
been  a  ladder  by  which  men  have  risen.  Thousands 
of  daring  men  have  remained  in  the  position  of  obscure 
bandits ;  but  those  who  owe  their  position  to  such  deeds 
are  to  be  counted  by  larger  numbers  than  hundreds. 
In  all  despotic  societies,  great  natural  gifts  tend  to  lose 
themselves  in  crime ;  the  Roman  genius  which  could 
conquer  the  world  is  to-day  the  terror  of  the  Pontine 
Marshes,  and  the  Spanish  Zumalacarreguis  and  Minas 
are  to  be  met  by  hundreds  in  Sierra  Morena.  Man's 
need  of  developing  his  strength,  capacity,  and  ambition, 
requires  him,  upon  the  failure  of  legitimate  means,  to 
frame  a  world,  with  its  own  morality  and  laws,  where 
he  shows  complacently  that  he  was  born  to  be  a  Napo- 
leon or  a  Caesar. 

In  this  society,  then,  where  mental  culture  is  useless 
or  impossible,  where  no  municipal  affairs  exist,  where, 
as  there  is  no  public,  the  public  good  is  a  meaningless 
word,  the  man  of  unusual  gifts,  striving  to  exert  his 
faculties,  takes  with  that  design  the  means  and  the 
paths  which  are  at  hand.  The  gaucho  will  be  a  male- 
factor or  a  military  chief,  according  to  the  course  which 
things  are  taking  at  the  moment  when  he  attains 
celebrity. 


02  LIFE  IN   THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

Such, customs  need  vigorous  methods  of  repression, 
and  to  restrain  hardened  men,  judges  still  more  hard- 
ened are  required.  What  I  said  at  the  outset,  of  the 
captain  of  the  freight-carts,  is  exactly  applicable  to  the 
country  justice.  He  wants  bravery  more  than  any- 
thing else  ;  the  terror  of  his  name  is  more  powerful 
than  the  punishments  he  inflicts.  The  justice  is  .natu- 
rally some  one  of  former  notoriety  recalled  to  orderly 
life  by  old  age  and  his  family  ties.  Of  course,  the  law 
he  administers  is  altogether  arbitrary ;  his  conscience 
or  his  passions  determine  it,  and  his  decrees  are  final. 
Sometimes  justices  officiate  during  their  whole  lives, 
and  are  remembered  with  respect.  But  the  conscious- 
ness of  these  methods  of  administration  and  the  arbi- 
trary nature  of  the  attendant  penalties,  produce  among 
the  people  ideas  of  judicial  authority  which  will  have 
their  effects  hereafter.  The  justice  secures  obedience  . 
Jby  his  reputation  for  formidable  boldness,  by  his  force 
of  character,  his  informal  decisions,  his  decree,  the 
announcement  "  such  are  my  commands,"  and  the 
forms  of  punishment  which  he  invents  himself.  From 
this  disorder,  perhaps  long  since  inevitable,  it  follows 
that  the  military  commander  who  reaches  distinction 
during  rebellions  possesses  a  sway,  undisputed  and  un- 
questioned by  his  followers,  equal  to  the  wide  and  terri- 
ble power  now  only  to  be  found  among  the  nations  of 
Asia.  -  The  Argentine  chieftain  is  a  Mohammed  who 
might  change  the  prevailing  religion,  if  such  were  his 
whim,  and  contrive  another.  He  has  power  in  all  its 
forms ;  his  injustice  is  a  misfortune  for  his  victim,  but 
no  abuse  on  his  part ;  for  he  may  be  unjust,  —  still 
more,  he  must  be  unjust,  —  for  he  has  been  a  lawless 
man  all  his  life. 


THE  COUNTRY   COMMANDANT.  53 

These  remarks  are  also  applicable  to  the  country 
commandant.  This  personage  is  of  more  importance 
than  the  former,  and  requires  in  a  higher  degree  the 
combination  of  the  reputation  and  antecedents  which 
distinguish  him.  Far  from  being  lessened,  the  evil  is 
even  aggravated  by  an  additional  circumstance.  The 
title  of  country  commandant  is  conferred  by  the  rulers 
of  the  cities  ;  but  as  the  city  is  destitute  of  power, 
influence,  and  supporters  in  the  country,  the  adminis- 
tration lays  hold  of  the  men  it  most  fears,  and  confers 
this  office  upon  them  in  order  to  retain  their  obedi- 
ence —  a  well  known  procedure  of  all  weak  govern- 
ments, which  put  off  the  evil  of  the  moment  only  to 
allow  it  to  appear  later  in  colossal  dimensions.  Thus 
the  Papal  government  has  dealings  with  banditti,  to 
whom  it  gives  offices  in  Rome,  encouraging  brigand- 
age by  this  means,  and  making  its  continuance  certain ; 
thus  did  the  Sultan  grant  Mehemet  Ali  the  rank  of 
Pacha  of  Egypt,  having  afterwards  to  purchase  the 
continuance  of  his  own  reign  by  recognizing  his  vas- 
sal's title  to  an  hereditary  throne.  It  is  singular  that 
all  the  chieftains  of  the  Argentine  revolutionary  move- 
ment were  country  commandants  :  Lopez  and  Ibarra, 
Artigas  and  Guemes,  Facundo  and  Rosas.  This  is 
the  constant  starting-point  of  ambition.  When  Rosas v 
had  made  himself  master  of  the  city,  he  exterminated 
all  the  commandants  to  whom  he  owed  his  elevation, 
intrusting  with  this  influential  position  commonplace 
men,  who  could  only  follow  the  path  he  had  traced. 
Pajarito,  Celarragan,  Arbolito,  Pancho  el  nato,  Molina, 
were  among  the  commandants  of  whom  Rosas  cleared 
the  country. 


54  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

I  assign  so  much  importance  to  these  lesser  points, 
because  they  will .  serve  to  explain  all  our  social^  phe- 
nomena, and  the  revolution  which  has  been  takingv 
place  in  the  Argentine  Republic.  The  features  of  this 
revolution  are  distorted  because  described  in  words 
from  the  political  dictionary,  which  disguise  and  hide 
them  by  the  mistaken  ideas  they  call  up.  In  the  same 
way  that  of  the  Spaniards  gave  familiar  European 
names  to  the  new  animals  they  encountered  upon  land- 
ing in  America  ;  saluting  with  the  terrible  name  of 
.lion,  which  calls  up  the  notion  of  the  magnanimity 
and  strength  of  the  king  of  beasts,  a  wretched  cat ' 
called  the  puma,  which  runs  at  the  sight  of  the  dogs, 
and  naming  the  jaguar  of  our  woods  the  tiger.  Evi- 
dence will  soon  be  brought  to  show  the  firm  and  in- 
destructible nature  of  the  foundations  upon  which  I 
assert  the  civil  war  to  be  based,  however  unstable  and 
ignoble  they  may  appear.  The  life  of  the  Argentine 
country  people  as  I  have  exhibited  it  is  not  a  mere 
accident ;  it  is  the  order  of  things,  a  characteristic, 
normal,  and  in  my  judgment  unparalleled  system  of 
association,  and  in  itself  affords  a  full  explanation  of 
our  revolution. 

Before  1810,  two  distinct,  rival,  and  incompatible 
forms  of  society,  two  differing  kinds  of  civilization  ex- 
isted in  the  Argentine  Republic :  one  being  Spanish, 
European,  and  cultivated,  the  other  barbarous,  Amer- 
ican, and  almost  wholly  of  native  growth.  The  revo- 
lution which  occurred  in  the  cities  acted  only  as  the 
cause,  the  impulse,  which  set  these  two  distinct  forms 
Aof  national  existence  face  to  face,  and  gave  occasion 
for  a  contest  between  them,  to  be  ended,  after  lasting 
many  years,  by  the  absorption  of  one  into  the  other.  " 


MONTONERAS.  „•  57 

I  have  pointed  out  the  normal  form  of  association, 
qr  want  of  association,  of  the  country  people,  a  form 
worse,  a  thousand  times,  ^than  that  of  the  nomad  tribe. 
I  have  described  the  artificial  associations  formed  in 
idleness,  and  the  sources  of  fame  among  the  gauchos  — 
bravery,  daring,  violence,  and  opposition  to  regular 
law,  to  the  civil  law,  that  is,  of  the  city.  These 
phenomena  of  social  organization  existed  in  1810,  and 
still  exist,  modified  in  many  points,  slowly  changing  in 
others,  and  yet  untouched  in  several  more.  These 
foci,  about  which  were  gathered  the  brave,  ignorant, 
free,  and  unemployed  peasantry,  were  found  by  thou- 
sands through  the  country.  The  revolution  of  1810 
carried  everywhere  commotion  and  the  sound  of  arms. 
.Public. Jife,  previously  wanting  in  this  Arabico-Roman 
society,  made  its  appearance  in  all  the  taverns,  and  the 
revolutionary  movement  finally  brought  about  provin- 
cial, warlike  associations,  called  montoneras,  legitimate 
offspring  of  the  tavern  and  the  field,  hostile  to  the  city 
and  to  the  army  of  revolutionary  patriots.  As  events 
succeed  each  other,  we  shall  see  the  pro vincial_ mon- 
toneras headed  by  their  chiefs ;  the  final  triumph,  in 
Facundo  Quiroga,  of  the  country  over  the  cities 
throughout  the  land ;  and  by  their  subjugation  in 
spirit,  government,  and  civilization,  the  final  formation 
of  the  eentral  consolidated  despotic  government' of  the 
landed  proprietor,  Don  Juan  Manuel  Rosas,  who  applied 
the  knife  of  the  gaucho  to  the  culture  of  Buenos  Ayres, 
and  destroyed  the  work  of  centuries  —  of  civilization, 
law,  and  liberty. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE   REVOLUTION    OF    1810. 

"  When  the  battle  opens,  the  Tartar  utters  a  terrible  cry,  closes,  vanishes,  and 
returns  like  a  flash  of  lightning."  —  Victor  Hugo. 

I  HAVE  been  obliged  to  traverse  the  whole  of  the 
route  hitherto  pursued,  in  order  to  reach  the  point  at 
which  our  drama  begins.  It  is  needless  to  consider  at 
length  the  character,  object,  and  end,  of  the  Revolu- 
tion of  Independence. 

They  were  the  same  throughout  America,  and  sprang 
from  the  same  source,  namely,  the  progress  of  Euro- 
pean ideas.  South  America  pursued  that  course  be- 
cause all  other  nations  were  pursuing  it.  Books,  events, 

>  and  the  impulses  given  by  these,  induced  South  Amer- 
ica to  take  part  in  the  movement  imparted  to  France 
by  North  American  demands  for  liberty,  and  to  Spain 
by  her  own  and  by  French  writers.  But  what  my 
object  requires  me  to  notice,  is,  that  the  revolution  — 
except  in  its  external  symbolic  independence  of  the 

"king — was  interesting  and  intelligible  only  to  the 
Argentine  cities,  but  foreign  and  unmeaning  to  the 
rural  districts.  Books,  ideas,  municipal  spirit,  courts, 
laws,  statutes,  education,  all  the  points  of  contact  and 
union  existing  between  us  and  the  people  of  Europe, 
were  to  be  found  in  the  cities,  where  there  was  a  basis 
of  organization,  incomplete  and  comparatively  evil," 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  REVOLUTION.  57 

perhaps,  for  the  very  reason  it  was  incomplete,  and  had 
not  attained  the  elevation  which  it  felt  itself  capable  of 
reaching,  but  it  entered  into  the  revolution  with  enthu- 
siasm. Outside  the  cities,  the  revolution  was  a  problemr 
atical  affair,  and  so  far  as  shaking  off  the  king's  author- 
ity was  shaking  off  judical  authority,  it  was  acceptable. 
The  pastoral  districts  could  only  regard  the  question 
from  this  point  of  view.  Liberty^  responsibility  of 
power,  and  all  the  questions  which  the  revolution  was 
ta-*ehne,  were  foreign  to  their  mode  of  life  and  to  their 
needs.  But  they  derived  this  advantage  from  the 
revolution,  that  it  tended  to  confer  an  object  and  an 
occupation  upon  the  excess  of  vital  force,  the  presence 
of  which  among  them  has  been  pointed  out,  and  was. 
to  add  a  broader  base  of  union  than  that  to  which  ' 
throughout  the  country  districts  the  men  daily  resorted.  v 
These  Spartan  constitutions,  that  warlike  nature  hith- 
erto ill-satisfied  by  the  free  use  of  the  dagger,  that  . 
Roman-like  idleness  which  could  only  be  exchanged 
for  the  activity  of  a  battle-field,  that  utter  impatience 
of  judicial  control,  were  all  to  have  at  last  a  fit  sphere 
of  action  in  the  world. 

•Revolutionary  movements  then  began  in  Buenos 
Ayres,  and  the  call  met  with  a  decided  response  from 
all  the  interior  cities.  The  pastoral  districts  became 
unsettled  and  joined  in  the  movement.  Tolerably  dis- 
ciplined armies  were  raised  in  Buenos  Ayres  to  be  sent 
to  Upper  Peru  and  Montevideo,  where  the  Spanish 
forces  under  General  Vigodet  were  stationed'.  Gen- 
eral Rondeau  laid  siege  to  Montevideo  with  a  disci- 
plined army,  and  Artigas,  a  noted  chieftain,  took  parjt 
in  the  siege  with  some  thousands  of  gauchos.  Artigas 


LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

had  been  a  formidable  outlaw  till  1804,  when  the  civil 
authorities  of  Buenos  Ayres  succeeded  in  bringing  him 
over  and  inducing  him  to  undertake  the  duties  of 
country  commandant,  as  a  supporter  of  the  same  au- 
thorities upon  whom  he  had,  till  then,  made  war.  If 
the  reader  has  not  forgotten  the  baqueano,  and  the 
general  requisites  of  a  country  commandant,  he  will 
readily  understand  the  character  and  feelings  of  Arti- 
gas.  After  a  time,  Artigas  and  his  gauchos  withdrew 
from  General  Rondeau,  and  began  to  make  war  upon 
him. 

The  latter's  position  was  the  same  as  Oribe's  when 
he  conducted  the  siege  of  Montevideo  while  taking  care 
of  another  enemy  at  his  rear.  The  only  difference 
-  between  the  cases  is  that  Artigas  was  hostile  at  once 
,to  patriats  and  royalists.  It  is  not  my  purpose  to  de- 
termine with  precision  the  causes  or  pretexts  which 
occasioned  this  rupture,  and  I  am  as  little  disposed  to 
apply  to  it  any  designation  from  the  language  of  poli-' 
tics,  for  none  such  would  be  appropriate.  When  a 
nation  engages  in  a  revolution,  it  is  begun  by  the  con- 
flict of  two  opposing  interests,  the__r£y^lu^naEy  and 
the  conservative ;  among  us  the  names  of  patriots  and 
royalists  were  applied  to  the  corresponding  parties.  It 
is  natural  for  the  victors,  after  their  triumph,  to  sepa- 
rate into  moderate  and  extreme  factions,  one  set  wish- 
ing to  carry  out  all  the  consequences  of  the  revolution, 
while  their  opponents  seek  to  restrain  it  within  certain 
bounds.  It  is  also  characteristic  of  revolutions  for  the 
originally  conquered  party  to  renew  its  organization, 
and  to. find  a  means  of  success  in  the  dissensions  of  its 
conquerors.  But  when  one  of  the  parties  called  to 


THE  MIDDLE  PARTY.  59 

the  aid  of  a  revolution,  immediately  loses  its  connection 
with  the  others,  forms  a  third  entity,  and  shows  hos- 
tility indiscriminately  to  both  combatants  (royalists 
and  patriots),  this  detached  party  is  heterogeneous, 
not  having  been  conscious  of  existence  until  that  time, 
the  revolution  having  served  to  develop  it  and  make 
it  known. 

This  was  the  element  set  in  motion  by  the  renowned 
Artigas.  It  was  a  blind  tool,  but  a  tool  full  of  life  and 
of  instincts  hostile  to  European  civilization  and  to  all 
regular  organization  ;  opposed  to  monarchy  as  to  re- 
publicanism, because  both  came  from  the  city  and  pos- 
sessed already  order  and  reverence  for  authority. 
This  tool  was  employed  by  the  various  parties,  prin- 
cipally by  that  least  revolutionary,  in  the  civilized 
cities,  until  in  the  course  of  time  the  very  men  who 
had  summoned  it  to  their  aid,  yielded  to  it ;  and  with 
them  fell  the  city,  its  ideas,  its  literature,  its  colleges, 
its  tribunals,  its  civilization  ! 

This  spontaneous  movement  of  the  pastoral  districts 
was  so  ingenuous  in  its  first  manifestations,  so  full  of 
genius  and  expression  in  its  spirit  and  tendencies,  that 
its  adoption  and  baptism  by  the  parties  of  the  cities, 
with  the  political  names  which  divided  them,  makes 
the  sincerity  of  the  latter  appear  in  the  most  unfavor- 
able light.  The  force  which  supported  Artigas  in 
Entre  Rios,  did  the  same  for  Lopez  in  Santa  Fe*,  for 
Ibarra  in  Santiago,  for  Facundo  in  the  Llanos.  Its 
essence  was  individual  action  ;  its  exclusive  weapon, 
the  horse  ;  its  stage,  the  vast  pampas.  The  Bedouin 
hordes  which  in  our  day  disturb  the  Algerian  frontier 
by  their  war-cries  and  depredations,  gives  an  exact  idea 


60  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE   REPUBLIC. 

of  the  Argentine  montonera,  which  has  been  made 
use  of  by  men  of  sagacity,  as  well  as  by  noted  despera- 
does. In  Africa,  at  the  present  day,  there  exists  the 

•  same  struggle  between  civilization  and  barbarism  ;  the 

tgoom  and  the  montonera  are  distinguished  by  the  same 
characters,  the  same  spirit,  the  same  undisciplined 
strategy.  Immense  masses  of  horsemen  wander  in 

"  each  case  over  the  wilderness,  offering  battle  to  the 
disciplined  forces  of  the  cities,  if  they  feel  themselves 
the  stronger  party ;  dispersing  in  all  directions  like 
clouds  of  Cossacks,  if  the  fight  is  even,  to  unite  again 

;  and  fall  unexpectedly  upon  their  sleeping  foes,  snatch 
away  their  horses,  and  kill  their  laggards  and  advanced 
^parties.  Ever  at  hand,  but  too  much  scattered  to  be 
successfully  attacked,  impotent  in  battle,  but  powerful 
and  invincible  in  an  extensive  region,  they  finally 
decimate  and*  overpower  an  organized  force  by  means 
of  skirmishes,  surprises,  fatigues,  and  privations. 

The  montonera,  as  it  appeared  under  the  command 
of  Artigas  in  the  early  days  of  the  Republic,  already 
showed  that  character  of  brutal  ferocity  and  the  prom- 
ise of  a  reign  of  terror,  which  it  was  reserved  for  the 

/  immortal  bandit,  the  Buenos  Ayres  land-owner,  to 
convert  into  a  legislative  system  applied  to  a  civilized 
society,  and  to  present  to  the  contemplation  of  Europe, 
to  the  shame  and  disgrace  of  America.  Rosas  invent- 
ed nothing  ;  his  talent  was  only  that  of  copying  his 
predecessors  and  combining  the  brutal  instincts  of  the 
ignorant  masses  into  a  coolly  planned  system. 

The  thongs  made  of  Colonel  Maciel's  skin,  and  by 
command  of  Rosas  converted  into  a  pair  of  manacles, 
have  been  actually  seen  by  foreign  officials,  an  outrage 


THE  MONTONEKA'S   SAVAGERY.  63 

not  without  its  precedent,  under  the  rule  of  Artigas 
and  the  other  barbarous  and  Tartaric  chiefs   of  the  •• 
time.     The  montonera  of  Artigas  waistcoated  its  ene- 
mies ;  that  is,  sewed  them  up  in  an  envelope  of  raw 
hide,  and  left  them  in  the  fields  in  this  condition. 

The  reader  may  imagine  all  the  horrors  of  this  slow 
death,  and  this  horrible  punishment  was  repeated  in 
1836,  in  the  case  of  a  colonel  in  the  army.  The  in-  ' 
fliction  of  death  by  cutting  the  throat  with  a  knife 
instead  of  by  shooting,  is  the  result  of  the  butcherly 
instinct  which  led  Rosas  to  encourage  cruelty,  to  give 
-executions  a  more  barbarous  form  which  he  thought 
would  give  pleasure  to  the  assassins;  in  other  words, 
he  changed  the  legal  punishments  recognized  by  civil 
society,  for  others  which  he  called  American,  and  in 
the  name  of  which  he  invited  his  fellow-Americans  to 
come  forward  in  his  defense  when  the  sufferings  -of 
Brazil,  Paraguay,  and  Uruguay  invoked  the  aid  of  the 
European  powers  to  assist  in  their  liberation  from  the 
cannibal,  who  was  even  then  overrunning  them  with  > 
his  sanguinary  hordes.  It  is  impossible  to  maintain  the 
calmness  needed  to  investigate  historic  truth  when  we 
'are  forced  to  remember  at  every  step  that  America 
and  Europe  have  been  so  long  successfully  deluded  by 
a  system  of  assassination  and  cruelty,  scarcely  tolerated  v 
in  the  African  provinces  of  Ashantee  or  Dahomey. 

Such  is  the  character  presented  by  the  montonera 
from  its  first  appearance  ;  a  singular  kind  of  warfare 
and  civil  polity,  unprecedented  except  among  the  tribes 
of  the  Asiatic  plains,  and  not  to  be  confounded  with 
the  habits,  ideas,  and  customs  of  the  Argentine  cities, 
which  were,  like  all  South  American  cities,  a  continua- 


UK!. 


LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPDB 

don  of  European  civilization,  and  especially  that  of 
Spain. 

The  only  explanation  of  the  montonera  is  to  be  dis- 
covered by  the  examination  of  the  society  from  which 
it  proceeded.  Artigas,  the  baqueano  and  outlaw,  at 
war  with  the  authorities  of  the  city,  but  bought  over 
as  provincial  commandant  and  chief  of  equestrian  bands, 
presents  a  type  reproduced  with  little  change  in  each 
provincial  commandant  who  came  to  be  a  partisan 
leader.  Like  all  civil  wars  in  which  deep  differences 
of  education,  belief,  and  motives  divide  the  parties 
engaged  in  them,  the  internal  warfare  of  the  Argen- 
tine Republic  was  long  and  obstinate,  until  one  of  the 
elements  of  the  strife  was  victorious.  The  Argentine 
Revolutionary  War  was  twofold:  1st,  a  civilized  war- 
fare of  the  cities  against  Spain  ;  2d,  a  war  against  the 
\  cities  on  the  part  of  the  country  chieftains  with  the 
view  of  shaking  off  all  political  subjection  and  satisfy- 
ing their  hatred  of  civilization.  The  cities  overcame 
the  Spaniards,  and  were  in  their  turn  overcome  by  the 
country  districts.  This  is  the  explanation  of  the 
Argentine  Revolution,  the  first  shot  of  which  was  fired 
in  1810,  and  the  last  is  still  to  be  heard. 

I  will  not  enter  into  all  the  details  of  this  contest. 
The  struggle  was  of  various  duration  in  different  places ; 
some  cities  yielded  at  first,  others  later.  The  life  of 
Facundo  Quiroga  will  afford  us  an  opportunity  of  dis- 
playing this  strife  in  all  its  naked  deformity.  What  I 
have  now  to  notice  is  that  the  triumph  of  these  chiefs 
involved  the  disappearance  of  all  civil  order,  even  as 
it  existed  among  the  Spaniards.  In  some  places  it 
has  totally  disappeared  ;  in  others  only  in  part,  but  it 


THE  VIOLENT   DEATH   OF  CITIES.  63 

is  clearly  on  its  way  to  destruction.     The  mass  of  men 

are  incapable  of  distinctly  comparing  one  epoch  with 
another ;  the  present  moment  is  the  only  one  embraced 
by  their  observation  ;  and  for  this  reason  no  one  has 

yet  observed  this  destruction  and  decadence  of  the 
cities  ;  just  as  the  visible  progress  of  the  people  of  the 
interior  to  total  barbarism  escapes  notice.  Buenos 
Ayres  has  so  many  of  the  elements  of  European  civili- 
zation that  it  will  end  by  educating  Rosas  and  repress- 
ing his  bloody  and  barbarous  instincts.  The  high 
position  which  he  occupies,  his  relations  with  European 
governments,  the  necessity  of  respecting  strangers  and 
of  denying  through  the  press  the  atrocities  he  has  com- 
mitted, in  order  to  escape  universal  reprobation,  all 

'  combine  to  check  his  outrages,  —  a  perceptible  advan- 
tage. 

Four  cities  have  already  been  annihilated  by  the 
rule  of  the  partisan  supporters  of  Rosas :  Santa  Fe\ 
Santiago  del  Estero,  San  Luis,  and  La  Rioja.  Santa 
FC*,  situated  at  the  junction  of  the  Parana  and  another 
navigable  river,  the  mouth  of  which  is  close  by  the 
town,  is  one  of  the  most  favored  spots  of  South  Amer- 
ica, and  yet  contains  less  than  two  thousand  souls; 
San  Luis,  the  capital  of  a  province  with  a  population 
of  fifty  thousand,  in  which  it  is  the  only  city,  contains 
less  than  fifteen  hundred. 

To  make  the  ruin  and  decadence  of  civilization  and 
the  rapid  progress  of  barbarism  perceptible  to  the  read- 
er, I  must  select  two  cities  —  one  already  annihilated, 
the  other  insensibly  proceeding  towards  barbarism  — 
La  Rioja  and  San  Juan.  LaJRipja  was  formerly  a 
city  of  some  account,  but  its  own  sons  would  fail  to 


64  LIFE  IN  THE   ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

recognize  it  in  its  present  condition.  When  the  revo- 
lution of  1810  began,  it  contained  a  large  number  of 
capitalists,  and  men  of  note,  who  have  figured  in  a 
distinguished  manner  in  arms,  at  the  bar,  on  the  bench, 
or  in  the  pulpit.  From  Rioja  came  Dr.  Castro  Barros, 
deputy  to  the  Congress  of  Tucuman,  and  a  celebrated 
divine ;  General  Davila,  who  freed  Copiapo  from  the 
Spanish  power  in  1817  ;  Gabriel  Ocampo,  one  of  the 
most  noted  members  of  the  Argentine  bar ;  and  a 
large  number  of  advocates  of  the  families  Ocampo, 
Davila,  and  Garcia,  at  present  scattered  over  the  Chil- 
ian territory,  as  well  as  various  priests  of  much  learn- 
ing, among  whom  is  Dr.  Gordillo,  actual  curate  of 
Huasco. 

;  The  ability  of  a  province  to  produce  in  a7 given 
fcpoch  so  many  eminent  and  illustrious  men,  proves  the 
diffusion  of  learning  among  a  greater  number  of  indi- 
viduals, and  that  it  was  respected  and  desired.  If  such 
was  the  case  in  the  early  days  of  the  revolution,  what 
an  increase  of  enlightenment,  wealth,  and  population, 
might  we  not  expect  to  find  now,  if  a  fearful  retro-j 
gression  towards  barbarism  had  not  checked  the  devel| 
opment  of  that  unfortunate  people  !  What  Chilian 
city,  however  insignificant,  is  there,  in  which  no  prog- 
ress has  been  made  during  a  period  of  ten  years,  in 
enlightenment,  wealth,  and  elegance,  even  if  we  include 
among  these  such  as  have  been  destroyed  by  earth- 
quakes ? 

Let  us  now  look  at  the  condition  of  La  Rioja,  as 
exhibited  by  the  answers  given  to  one  of  the  many  in- 
quiries I  have  instituted  for  the  purpose  of  gaining  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  the  facts  on  which  I  base  my 


RIOJA.  65 

theories.  These  are  the  statements  of  a  reliable  per- 
son, who  was  unacquainted  with  my  object  in  investi- 
gating his  memory  of  matters  which  must  have  been 
fresh  in  his  mind,  for  it  was  only  four  months  before 
that  he  left  Rioja.1 

1.  What  is  about  the  actual  amount  of  the  popula- 
tion of  Rioja  city  ? 

Ans.  About  fifteen  hundred  souls.  It  is  said  that 
only  fifteen  adult  males  reside  in  the  city. 

2.  How  many  persons  of  note  live  in  it  ? 
Ans.  Six  or  eight  in  the  city. 

3.  How  many  lawyers'  offices  are  open  there  ? 
Ans.  None. 

4.  How  many  men  wear  dress-coats  ? 
Ans.  None. 

5.  How  many  young  men  from  La  Rioja  are  study- 
ing at  Cordova  or  Buenos  Ayres  ? 

Ans.  I  know  of  only  one. 

6.  How  many  schools  are  there,   and  how   many 
children  attend  them  ? 

Ans.  None. 

7.  Are  there  any  public  charitable  institutions  ? 

Ans.  None,  nor  any  means  for  the  simplest  instruc- 
tion. The  only  Franciscan  ecclesiastic  of  the  place  has 
given  instruction  to  some  children. 

8.  How  many  of  the  churches  are  in  ruins  ? 

.  Ans.  Five ;  the  Matriz  is  the  only  one  at  all  ser- 
viceable. 

9.  Are  new  houses  building  ? 

1  Dr.  Don  Manuel  Ignacio  Castro   Barros,  canon  of  the  Cordova  Ca- 
thedral. 

5 


66  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC.. 

/ 

Ans.  Not  one,  nor  are  people  making  any  of 'the 
needed  repairs. 

10.  Are  the  existing  houses  going  to  ruins  ? 

Ans.  Almost  all,  owing  to  the  frequency  with  .which 
the  streets  are  flooded. 

11.  How  many  priests  in  orders  are  there  ? 

Ans.  Only  two  young  men  in  the  city :  one  is  a 
secular  curate,  the  other  an  ecclesiastic  of  Catamarca. 
There  are  four  others  in  the  province. 

12.  Are  there  any  fortunes  of  fifty  thousand  dol- 
lars ?  and  how  many  of  twenty  thousand  ? 

Ans.  ^"one ;  all  the  people  are  extremely  poor. 

13.  Has  the  population  increased  or  diminished  ? 
Ans.  It  has  diminished  by  more  than  one  half. 

14.  Is  there  any  feeling  of  terror  prevalent  among 
the  people  ? 

•Ans.  A  very  strong  one  ;  there  is  a  fear  of  uttering 
even  harmless  words.  • 

15.  Is  the  money  coined  of  full  value  ? 
Ans.  That  of  the  province  is  debased. 

These  facts  speak  with  all  their  sad  and  fearful 
severity.  The  only  example  of  so  rapid  a  decline 
towards  barbarism  is  presented  by  the  history  of  the 
Mohammedan  conquests  of  Greece.  And  this  happens 
in  America,  and  in  the  ^flJ£ejte^njtlxjiejQtury,  and  is  the 
work  of  but  twenty  years  ! 

What  is  true  of  La  Rioja  is  equally  so  of  Santa  F«, 
San  Luis,  and  Santiago  del  Estero,  which  have  become 
skeletons  of  cities,  decrepit  and  devastated,  mere  apolo- 
gies for  towns.  In  San  Luis  there  has  been  but  one 
priest  for  ten  years  past,  and  for  the  same  period  it  has 
contained  no  school,  nor  any  person  who  wears  a  dress-  : 

«r 


SAN   JUAN.  67 

coat.  But  let  us  'judge  by  San  Juan  the  fate  of  the 
cities  which  have  escaped  destruction,  but  in  which 
barbarism  is  insensibly  increasing. 

San  Juan  is  an  exclusively  agricultural  and  com- 
mercial province.  Its  want  of  open  country  has  long 
kept  it  free  from  the  rule  of  the  provincial  chieftains. 
Whatever  party  was  in  power,  its  governor  and  offi- 
cials were  tak.enJc.Qin  the  educated  part  of  its  population 
until  1833,  when  Facundo  Quiroga  placed  a  man  of 
the  lowef  class  in  possession  of  the  government.  This 
person,  unable  to  avoid  the  influence  of  the  civilized 
usages,  went  over  to  the  party  of  culture  and  yielded 
to  their  dictations,  until  he  was  overthrown  by  Bri- 
zuela,  chief  of  La  Rioja.  Brizuela  was  succeeded  by 
General  Benavides,  whose  power  has  lasted  nine  years, 
and  has  come  to  seem  rather  his  own  property  than  a 
magistracy  held  for  a  term.  San  Juan  has  grown  in 
population, — owing  to  the  progress^oilagriculture  there, 
and  to  the  emigrants  driven  by  hunger  and  wretched- 
1  ness  from  La  Rioja  and  San  Luis,  —  and  its  buildings 
have  sensibly  increased  in  number ;  facts  which  prove 
the  natural  wealth  of  the  region,  and  the  progress  that 
might  be  made  under  a  government  which  cared  to 
foster  education  and  culture,  the  sola  methods  of  ele- 
vating a  nation. 

The  despotism  of  Benavides  is  mild  and  pacific,  so 
that  men's  minds  are  kept  quiet  and  calm.  He  is  the 
only  subordinate  of  Rosas  who  has  not  reveled  in 
blood  ;  but  this  does  not  lessen  the  tendency  to  bar- 
barism inherent  in  the  ^resent  system. 
f  All  the  courts  are  held  by  men  destitute  of  the  slight- 
eat  knowledge  of  law,  worthless  in  every  sense.  There 


68  LIFE  IN   THE   ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

J 
is  no  military  man  who  has  served  in  regular  armies 

outside  the  Republic.1  Is  it  credible  that  such  an  in- 
ferior  position  is  naturally  that  of  a  city  of  the  interior  ? 
No',  the  past  proves  the  contrary.  Twenty  years  ago 
San  Juan  was  one  of  the  most  civilized  towns  of  the 
interior ;  and  what  must  be  the  decline  and  prostration 
of  a  South  American  city  which  has  to  look  back 
twenty  years  for  its  time  of  prosperity  ! 

'  In  1831  two  hundred  heads  of  families,  youths,  edu- 
cated  men,  advocates,  soldiers,  and  other  of  its  citizens, 
emigrated  to  Chili,  Copiapo,  Coquimbo,  Valparaiso  ; 
and  other  parts  of  that  Republic  are  still  full  of  these 
noble  victims  of  proscription,  among  whom  are  capital- 
ists, intelligent  miners,  merchants,  farmers,  lawyers, 
and  physicians.  As  at  the  Babylonian  dispersion,  none 
of  them  have  yet  been  able  to  return  to  see  the  prom- 
ised land.  A  second  set  of  emigrants  left  the  city  in 
1840,  never  to  return.  «' 

San  Juan  had  been,  before  these  days,  rich  enough 
in  distinguished  men  to  give  to  the  celebrated  Congress 
of  Tucuman  a  President  of  the  capacity  and  rank  of 
Dr.  Laprida,  who  was  afterwards  assassinated  by  the 
Aldaos  ;  a  prior  to  the  Recoleta  Dominica  of  Chili,  in 
the  person  of  the  distinguished  sage  and  patriot  Oro, 

1  From  1845,  when  this  book  was  written,  to  the  present  date,  a  salutary 
reaction  occurred  in  the  province  of  San  Juan.  It  now  contains  one  male 
and  one  female  academy,  and  the  Honorable  House  of  Representatives  has 
just  proclaimed  primary  education  for  both  sexes  a  public  institution  of 
the  province.  More  than  twenty  youths  are  studying  in  Buenos  Ayres, 
Cordova,  and  Chili,  for  the  professions  of  law  or  medicine.  Music  and 
drawing  have  become  quite  frequent  accomplishments  for  both  sexes,  and 
the  artisans  and  other  grades  of  society  dress  by  preference  in  civilized 
costume,  which  is  a  sign  of  a  satisfactory  direction  of  the  public  mind  to 
the  improvement  of  its  condition. 


SAN   JUAN.  H9 

afterwards  Bishop  of  San  Juan.  An  illustrious  patriot, 
Don  Ignacio  de  fa  Rosa,  who,  in  conjunction  with  San 
Martin,  prepared  the  expedition  to  aid  Chili,  and  who 
scattered  through  his  country  the  seeds  of  the  equality 
of  classes  promised  by  the  Revolution,  was  also  a  citi- 
zen of  San  Juan ;  as  were  a  minister  of  the  govern- 
ment of  Rivadavia,  Dr.  Carril ;  a  minister  of  the  Argen- 
Jtine  Legation,  Don  Domingo  Oro,  whose  diplomatic 
talents  are  yet  insufficiently  appreciated  ;  a  deputy  to 
the  Congress  of  1826,  the  enlightened  priest  Vera ;  a 
deputy  to  the  convention  of  Santa  FC*,  in  the  presbyter 
Oro,  an  orator  of  note ;  one  to  that  of  Cordova,  Don 
Rudecindo  Rojo,  as  eminent  for  his  talents  and  genius 
for  industrial  pursuits  as  for  his  great  learning ;  and, 
among  others,  General  Rojo,  a  soldier  in  the  army, 
who  saved  two  provinces  by  suppressing  conspiracies, 
which  he  did  solely  by  his  quiet  determination  of  char- 
acter,  and  of  whom  General  Paz,  a  competent  judge  of 
such  matters,  said,  that  he  bade  fair  to  be  one  of  the 
first  generals  of  the  Republic.  San  Juan  then  possessed 
a  theatre  and  a  permanent  company  of  actors. 

There  are  still  in  existence  the  remains  of  six  or 
seven  private  libraries,  which  comprised  the  most  valu- 
ableTbboks  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  translations 
of  the  best  Greek  and  Latin  works.  I  had  no  other 
instruction  up  to  1836  than  that  afforded  me  by  these 
rich,  though  partially  destroyed  libraries.  San  Juan 
had  so  many  illustrious  men  in  1825  that  the  House  of 
Representatives  contained  six  noted  orators.  Let  the 
wretched  peasants  who  now1  disgrace  the  House  of 
Representatives  of  San  Juan,  within  which  have  been 

1 1845. 


70  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC.*      . 

heard  such  eloquent  speeches  and  such  elevated  senti- 
ments, turn  from  the  record  of  those  times  and  flee 
abashed  at  the  profanation  of  that  august  sanctuary  by 
their  diatribes  ! 

The  judicial   chairs  and   the   administrative  offices 
were  then  occupied  by  educated  men,  and  a  sufficient  i 
number  remained  to  plead  the  causes  of  others. 

The  elegance  of  manners,  the  refinement  of  cus- 
toms, the  cultivation  of  literature,  the  great  commer- 
cial interests,  the  public  spirit  which  animated  the 
people,  —  all  announced  to  foreigners  the  existence  o£ 
a  society  of  culture  advancing  rapidly  to  the  attainment 
of  a  distinguished  rank,  and  justified  the  following  esti- 
•mate  of  San  Juan  given  to  America  and  Europe 
through  the  London  press  :  — 

"  They  are  showing  the  strongest  inclination  to  advance  in 
civilization,  and  this  city  is  regarded  at  present  as  only  second 
to  Buenos  Ayres  in  the  progress  of  social  reform.  Various  insti- 
tutions lately  established  in  Buenos  Ayres  have  been  adopted  at 
San  Juan  on  a  scale  proportionate  to  its  size,  and  the  people  have 
made  extraordinary  progress  in  ecclesiastical  reform,  incorporat- 
ing all  the  monastic  orders  with  the  secular  clergy,  and  suppress- 
ing the  convents  of  the  latter." 

t 

But  the  state  of  primary  education  will  give  the  be^t 

idea  of  the  culture  of  the  period  we  are  considering., 
No  portion  of  the  Argentine  Republic  has  been  more 
distinguished  by  its  anxiety  for  the  diffusion  of  knowl- 
edge than  San  Juan,  nor  have  more  complete  results 
been  obtained  elsewhere.  The  government,  not  satis- 
fied with  the  capacity  of  the  men  of  the-  province  for 
the  fulfillment  of  so  important  a  duty,  sent  in  1815  for 
a  person  uniting  competent  learning  and  high  morals 


THE  RODRIGUEZ.  71 

from  Buenos  Ayres.  Some  gentlemen  of  the  name  of  t 
'Rodriguez  accordingly  came  to  San  Juan.  These  were 
three  brothers  worthy  of  ranking  with  the  first  families 
of  the  -  country,  with  whom  they  became  connected, 
such  was  their  merit,  and  such  were  the  many  excel- 
lent qualities  they  possessed.  My  present  profession 
as  superintendent  of  primary  education,  and  my  study 
of  such  subjects,  enable  me  to  say  that  if  ever  any 
parallel  to  the  celebrated  Dutch  schools  described  by  .- 
M.  Cousin,  occurred  in  Spanish  America,  it  was  in  the 
school  of  San  Juan.  The  moral  and  religious  instruc- 
tion was  perhaps  superior  to  the  elementary  teaching 
given  there  ;  and  to  this  cause  I  attribute  the  small 
number  of  crimes  committed  in  San  Juan,  and  the 
moderate  conduct  of  Benavides  himself,  who  like  most 
of  the  present  citizens  of  San  Juan,  was  educated  in 
that  famous  school,  where  the  pupils  were  indoctrinated 
into  the  precepts  of  morality  with  special  care. 

If  these  pages  reach  the  hands  of  Don  Ignacio  and 
Don  Roque  Rodriguez,  I  trust  they  will  accept  this 
feeble  homage,  due,  as  I  believe,  to  the  eminent  ser- 
vice done  to  the  culture  and  morality  of  a  whole  city, 
in  connection  with  their  late  brother,  Don  Jose*. 1 

Such  is  the  history  of  the  Argentine  cities.  They 
can  all  claim  past  glory,  civilization,  and  distinction. 
For  the  present  they  are  borne  down  to  the  level  of 
barbarism,  and  this  barbarism  of  the  interior  has  suc- 
ceeded in  penetrating  even  to  the  streets  of  Buenos 
Ayres. 

1 A  detailed  account  of  the  system  and  organization  of  this  public  edu- 
cational establishment  will  be  found  in  Popular  Education,  a  special  work 
devoted  to  that  subject,  and  the  fruit  of  my  journey  to  Europe  and  the 
United  States,  undertaken  by  order  of  the  Chilian  government. 


72  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

From  1810  to  1840  the  provinces  which  contained 
such  civilized  cities,  were  yet  sufficiently  barbarous  to , 
destroy  by  their  propensities  the  colossal  work  of  the 
Revglution  of  Independence !  Now  tha,t  nothing  is 
left  of  what  men,  enlightenment,  and  institutions  they 
once  held,  what  will  become  of  them  ?  Ignorance 
and  its  consequence,  poverty,  are  waiting  like^carrioh 
birds  for  the  last  gasp  of  the  cities  of  the  interior  to 
devour  their  prey,  and  to  convert  them  into  fields  and 
pastures.  Buenos  Ayres  may  again  become  what  it 
Vas  ;  for  there  European  civilization  has  such  strength" 
that  it  must  maintain  itself  in  spite  of  the  brutality  of 
*the  government.  Bat  what  can  the  provinces  depend 
"upon  ?  Two  centuries  will  not  suffice  for  their  restor£- 
>tion  to  the  path  they  have  abandoned,  if  the  present 
generation  shall  educate  their  children  in  the  barbarism 
which  they  have  reached.  Are  we  now  asked  for  what 
we  are  contending?  We  are  contending  for  the  res- 
toration  of  their  former  life,  and  the  promise  of  im- 
*  provenaent  to  the  cities. 


CHAPTER  V. 
* 

LIFE    OF   JUAN    FACUNDO    QUIROGA. 

"  Moreover  these  traits  belong  to  the  original  character  of  the  human  race.  The 
man  of  nature  who  has  not  yet  learned  to  restrain  or  disguise  his  passions,  displays 
them  in  all  their  energy,  and  gives  himself  up  to  their  impetuosity."  —  Alex.  His- 
tory of  the  Ottoman  Empire. 

HIS  INFANCY  AND  YOUTH. 

BETWEEN  the  cities  of  San  Luis  and  San  Juan,  lies 
an  extensive  desert,  called  the  Travesia,  a  word  which 
signifies  want  of  water.  The  aspect  of  that  waste  is 
mostly  gloomy  and  unpromising,  and  the  traveller  com- 
ing from  the  east  does  not  fail  to  provide  his  chifles 
with  a  sufficient  quantity  of  water  at  the  last  cistern 
which  he  passes  as  he  approaches  it.  This  Travesia 
once  witnessed  the  following  strange  scene.  The  con- 
sequences of  some  of  the  encounters  with  knives 
so  common  among  our  gauchos  had  driven  one  of 
them  in  haste  from  the  city  of  San  Luis  and  forced 
him  to  escape  to  the  Travesia  on  foot,  and  with  his 
riding  gear  on  his  shoulder,  in  order  to  avoid  the 
pursuit  of  the  law.  Two  comrades  were  to  join 
him  as  soon  as  they  could  steal  horses  for  all  three. 
Hunger  and  thirst  were  not  the  only  dangers  which  at 
that  time  awaited  him  in  the  desert ;  a  tiger  that  had 
already  tasted  human  flesh  had  been  following  the  track 
of  those  who  crossed  it  for  a  year,  and  more  than  eight 
persons  had  already  been  the  victims  of  this  preference. 


74  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

In  these  regions,  where  man  must  contend  with  this 
animal  for  dominion  over  nature,  the  former  sometimes 
falls  a  victim,  upon  which  the  tiger  begins  to  acquire  a 
preference  for  the  taste  of  human  flesh, and  when  it  has 
once  devoted  itself  to  this  novel  form  of  chase,  the  pur- 
suit of  mankind,  it  gets  the  name  of  man-eater.  The 
provincial  justice  nearest  the  scene  of  his  depredations 
calls  out  the  huntsmen  of  his  district,  who  join,  under 
his  authority  and  guidance,  in  the  pursuit  of  the  beast, 
which  seldom  escapes  the  consequences  of  its  outlawry. 
When  our  fugitive  had  proceeded  some  six  leagues, 
he  thought  he  heard  the  distant  roar  of  the  animal,  and 
a  shudder  ran  through  him.  The  roar  of  the  tiger  resem- 
bles the  screech  of  the  hog,  but  is  prolonged,  sharp,  and 
piercing,  and  even  when  there  is  no  occasion  for  fear, 
causes  an  involuntary  tremor  of  the  nerves  as  if  the  flesh 
shuddered  consciously  at  the  menace  of  death.  The 
roaring  was  heard  clearer  and  nearer.  The  tiger  was  al- 
ready upon  the  trail  of  the  man,  who  saw  no  refuge  but 
a  small  carob-tree  at  a  great  distance.  He  had  to 
quicken  his  pace,  and  finally  to  run,  for  the  roars  behind 
him  began  to  follow  each  other  more  rapidly,  and  each 
was  clearer  and  more  ringing  than  the  last.  At  length, 
flinging  his  riding  gear  to  one  side  of  the  path,  the  gaucho 
turned  to  the  tree  which  he  had  noticed,  and  in  spite  of 
the  weakness  of  its  trunk,  happily  quite  a  tall  one,  he 
succeeded  in  clambering  to  its  top,  and  keeping  him- 
self half  concealed  among  its  boughs  which  oscillated 
violently.  Thence  he  could  see  the  swift  approach  of 
the  tiger,  sniffing  the  soil  and  roaring  more  frequently 
in  proportion  to  its  increasing  perception  of  the  near- 
ness of  its  prey.  Passing  beyond  the  spot  where  our 


THE   TIGER.  75 

traveller  had  left  the  path,  it  lost  the  track,  and  becom- 
ing enraged,  rapidly  circled  about  until  it  discovered 
the  riding  gear,  which  it  dashed  to  fragments  by  a 
single  blow.  Still  more  furious  from  this  failure,  it  re- 
sumed its  search  for  the  trail,  and  at  last  found  out  the 
direction  in  which  it  led.  It  soon  discerned  its  prey, 
under  whose  weight  the  slight  tree  was  swaying  like  a 
reed  upon  the  summit  of  which  a  bird  has  alighted.  The 
tiger  now  sprang  forward,  and  in  the  twinkling  of  an 
eye,  its  monstrous  fore-paws  were  resting  on  the  slender 
trunk  two  yards  from  the  ground,  and  were  imparting 
to  the  tree  a  convulsive  trembling  calculated  to  act 
upon  the  nerves  of  the  gaucho,  whose  position  was  far 
from  secure.  The  beast  exerted  its  strength  in  an 
ineffectual  leap ;  it  circled  around  the  tree,  measuring 
the  elevation  with  eyes  reddened  by  the  thirst  for 
blood,  and  at  length,  roaring  with  rage,  it  crouched 
down,  beating  the  ground  frantically  with  its  tail,  its 
eyes  fixed  on  its  prey,  its  parched  mouth  half  open. 
This  horrible  scene  had  lasted  for  nearly  two  mortal 
hours  ;  the  gaucho's  constrained  attitude,  and  the  fear- 
ful fascination  exercised  over  him  by  the  fixed  and 
bloodthirsty  stare  of  the  tiger,  which  irresistibly  at- 
tracted and  retained  his  own  glances,  had  begun  to  di- 
minish his  strength,  and  he  already  perceived  that  the 
moment  was  at  hand  when  his  exhausted  body  would 
fall  into  the  capacious  mouth  of  his  pursuer.  But  at 
this  moment  the  distant  sound  of  the  feet  of  horses  on  a 
rapid  gallop  gave  him  hope  of  rescue.  His  friends  had 
indeed  seen  the  tiger's  foot-prints,  and  were  hastening 
on,  though  without  hope  of  saving  him.  The  scattered 
fragments  of  the  saddle  directed  them  to  the  scene  of 


76       LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

action,  and  it  was  the  work  of  a  moment  for  them  to 
reach  it,  to  uncoil  their  lassoes,  and  to  fling  them  over 
the  tiger,  now  blinded  by  rage.  The  beast,  drawn  in 
opposite  directions  by  the  two  lassos,  could  not  evade 
the  swift  stabs  by  which  its  destined  victim  took  his  re- 
venge for  his  prolonged  torments.  "  On  that  occasion 
I  knew  what  it  was  to  be  afraid,"  was  the  expression 
of  Don  Juan  Facundo  Quiroga,  as  he  related  this  inci- 
dent to  a  group  of  officers. 

He  too  was  called  "  the  tiger  of  the  Llanos,"  a  title 
which  did  not  ill  befit  him.  There  are,  in  fact,  as  is 
proved  by  phrenology  and  comparative  anatomy,  rela- 
tions between  external  forms  and  moral  qualities,  be- 
tween the  countenance  of  a  man  and  that  of  some  ani- 
mal whose  disposition  resembles  his  own.  Facundo,  as 
he  was  long  called  in  the  interior,  —  or,  General  Don 
Facundo  Quiroga,  as  he  afterwards  became,  when  society 
had  received  him  into  its  bosom  and  victory  had  crowned 
him  with  laurels,  —  was  a  stoutly  built  man  of  low 
stature,  whose  short  neck  and  broad  shoulders  supported 
a  well-shaped  head,  covered  with  a  profusion  of  black 
and  closely  curling  hair.  His  somewhat  oval  face  was 
half  buried  in  this  mass  of  hair  and  an  equally  thick 
black,  curly  beard,  rising  to  his  cheek-bones,  which  by 
their  prominence  evinced  a  firm  and  tenacious  will. 
His  black  and  fiery  eyes,  shadowed  by  thick  eyebrows, 
occasioned  an  involuntary  sense  of  terror  in  those  on 
whom  they  chanced  to  fall,  for  Facundo's  glance  was 
never  direct,  whether  from  habit  or  intention.  With 
the  design  of  making  himself  always  formidable,  he  al- 
ways kept  his  head  bent  down,  to  look  at  one  from  under 
his  eyebrows,  like  the  AH  Pacha  of  Monovoisin. 


QUIROGA'S  EDUCATION.  77 

image  of  Quiroga  is  recalled  to  me  by  the  Cain  repre- 
sented by  the  famous  Ravel  troupe,  setting  aside  the  ar- 
tistic and  statuesque  attitudes,  which  do  not  correspond 
to  his.  To  conclude,  his  features  were  regular,  and 
the  pale  olive  of  his  complexion  harmonized  well  with 
the  dense  shadows  which  surrounded  it. 

The  formation  of  his  head  showed,  notwithstanding 
this  shaggy  covering,  the  peculiar  organization  of  a  man 
born  to  rule.  Quiroga  possessed  those  natural  qualities 
which  converted  the  student  of  Brienne  into  the  genius 
of  France,  and  the  obscure  Mameluke  who  fought  with 
the  French  at  the  Pyramids,  into  the  Viceroy  of  Egypt. 
Such  natures  develop  according  to  the  society  in  which 
they  originate,  and  are  either  noble  leaders  who  hold 
the  highest  place  in  history,  ever  forwarding  the  prog- 
ress  of  civilization,  or  the  cruel  and  vicious  tyrants 
who  become  the  scourges  of  their  race  and  time. 
~  Facundo  Quiroga  was  the  son  of  an  inhabitant 
of  San  Juan,  who  had  settled  in  the  Llanos  of  La 
Rioja,  and  there  had  accpiij^d--a  -fortune^  in- -pastoral 
pursuits.  In  1779,  Facundo  was  sent  to  his  father's 
native  province  to  receive  the  limitedLedupation,  con- 
sisting only  of  the  arts  of  reading  and  writing,  which 
he  could  acquire  in  its  schools.  After  a  man  has  come 
to  employ  the  hundred  trumpets  of  fame  with  the  noise 
of  his  deeds,  curiosity  or  the  spirit  of  investigation  is 
carried  to  such  an  extent  as  to  scent  out  the  insignificant 
history  of  the  child,  in  order  to  connect  it  with  the  biog- 
raphy of  the  hero  ;  and  it  is  not  seldom  that  the  rudi- 
ments of  the  traits  characteristic  of  the  historical  per- 
sonage are  met  amid  fables  invented  by  flattery.  The 
young  Alcibiades  is  said  to  have  lain  down  at  full 


78  LIFE  IN   THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

length  upon  the  pavement  of  the  street  where  he  was 
playing,  in  order  to  insist  that  the  driver  of  an  ap- 
proaching vehicle  should  yield  the  way  to  avoid  run- 
ning over  him.  Napoleon  is  reported  to  have  ruled 
over  his  fellow-students,  and  to  have  entrenched  him- 
self in  his  study  to  resist  an  apprehended  insult.  Many 
anecdotes  are  now  in  circulation  relating  to  Facundo, 
many  of  which  reveal  his  true  nature.  In  the  house 
where  he  lodged,  he  could  never  be  induced  to  take  his 
s^at  at  the  family  table ;  in  school  he  was  haughty,  re- 
se^yed,  and  unsocial  ;  he  never  joined  the  other  boys 
except  to  head  their  rebellious  proceedings  or  to  beat 
them.  The  master,  tired  of  contending  with  so  un- 
tamable a  disposition,  on  one  occasion  provided  himself 
with  a  new  and  stiff  strap,  and  said  to  the  frightened 
boys,  as  he  showed  it  to  them,  "  This  is  to  be  made 
supple  upon  Facundo."  Facundo,  then  eleven  years 
old,  heard  this  threat,  and  the  next  day  he  tested  its 
value.  Without  having  learned  his  lesson,  he  asked 
the  head-master  to  hear  it  himself,  because,  as  he  said, 
the^  assistant  was  unfriendly  to  him.  The  master  com- 
plied with  the  request.  Facundo  made  one  mistake, 
then  two,  three,  and  four  ;  upon  which  the  master  used 
his  strap  upon  him.  Facundo,  who  had  calculated  every- 
thing, down  to  the  weakness  of  the  chair  in  which  the 
master  was  seated,  gave  him  a  buffet,  upset  him  on  his 
back,  and,  taking  to  the  street  in  the  confusion  created 
by  this  scene,  hid  himself  among  some  wild  vines  where 
they  could  not  get  him  out  for  three  days.  Was  not 
such  a  boy  the  embryo  chieftain  who  would  afterwards 
defy  society  at  large  ? 

In  early  manhood  his  character  took  a  more  decided 


HABITS   OF   LIFE.  79 

cast,  constantly  becoming  more  gloomy,  imperious, 
and  wild.  From  the  age  of  fifteen  years  he  was  irresist- 
ibly controlled  by  the  passion  for_garoblmg,  as  is  often 
the  case  with  such  natures,  which  need  strong  excite- 
ment to  awaken  their  dormant  energies.  This  made 
him  notorious  in  the  city,  and  intolerable  in  the  house 
which  afforded  him  its  hospitality  ;  and  finally  under 
this  influence,  by  a  shot  fired  atone  George  Pena,  he. 
shed  the  first  rill  of  blood  which  went  to  make  up  tile 
wide  torrent  that  marked  his  way  through  life. 

On  his  becoming  an  adult,  the  thread  of  his  life  dis- 
appears in  an  intricate  labyrinth  of  bouts  and  broils 
among  the  people  of  the  surrounding  region.  Some- 
times lying  hid,  always  pursued,  he  passed  his  time  in 
gambliDg,  working  as  a  common  laborer,  domineering 
over  everybody  around  him,  and  distributing  his  stabs 
among  them. 

On  the  Godoy  farm  in  San  Juan  are  shown  to  thfs 
day  mud-walls  of  Quiroga's  treading ;  there  are 
others  in  Fiambola,  in  La  Rioja,  made  by  him.  He* 
himself  pointed  out  others  in  Mendoza,  in  the  very 
place  where  one  afternoon  he  had  twenty-six  of  the 
officers  who  surrendered  at  Chacon  dragged  from  their 
houses  and  shot  to  avenge  Villifane.  He  also  showed 
some  monuments  of  his  wandering  life  of  labor  in  thev 
country  districts  of  Buenos  Ayes.  What  motives  in- 
duced this  man,  brought  up  in  a  respectable  family, 
son  of  a  man  of  means  and  creditable  life,  to  descend 
to  a  hireling's  position,  and  moreover  to  select  the  dull- 
est and  most  brutish  kind  of  work,  needing  only  bodily 
strength  and  endurance  ?  Was  it  because  the  labor  of 
building  these  mud-walls  is  recompensed  with  double 


80  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

wages,  and  that  he  was  in  haste  to  get  together  a  little 
money  ? 

The  most  connected  account  of  this  obscure  and 
roaming  part  of  his  life  that  I  can  procure  is  as  fol- 
lows : 

Towards   1806,  he  went  to  Chili  with  a  consign- 
ment of  grain  on  his  parent's  account.     This  he  gam- 
bled away,  as  well  as  the  animals,  which  had  brought 
/it,  and  the  family  slaves  who  had  accompanied  him. 

He  often  took  to  San  Juan  and  Mendoza  droves  of 
the  stock  on  his  father's  estate,  and  these  always  shared 
the  same  fate  ;  for  with  Facundo,  gambling  was  a  fierce 
and  burning  passion  which  aroused  the  deepest  instincts 
of  his  nature.  These  successive  gains  and  losses  of  his 
must  have  worn  out  his  father's  generosity,  for  at  last 
he  broke  off  all  amicable  relations  with  his  family. 

When  he  had  become  the  terror  of  the  Republic,  he 
was  once  asked  by  one  of  his  parasites,  "  What  was 
the  largest  bet  you  ever  made  in  your  life,  General  ?  " 
"  Seventy  dollars,"  replied  Quiroga,  carelessly,  and 
yet  he  had  just  won  two  hundred  dollars  at  one  stake. 
He  afterwards  explained  that  once  when  a  young  man, 
having  only  seventy  dollars,  he  had  lost  them  all  at  one 
throw.  But  this  fact  has  its  characteristic  history. 
Facundo  had  been  at  work  for  a  year  as  a  laborer 
upon  the  farm  of  a  lady,  situated  in  the  Plumerillo, 
and  had  made  himself  conspicuous  by  his  punctuality 
in  going  to  work,  and  by  the  influence  and  authority  ) 
which  he  exercised  over  the  other  laborers.  When 
they  wanted  a  holiday  to  get  drunk  in,  they  used  to 
apply  to  Facundo,  who  informed  the  lady,  and  gave 
her  his  word,  which  was  always  fulfilled,  to  have  all 


THE  GAUCHO'S  REVENGE.  81 

the  men  at  work  the  next  day.  On  this  account  the 
laborers  called  him  the  father.  At  the  end  of  a  year 
of  steady  work,  Facundo  asked  for  his  wages,  which 
amounted  to  seventy  dollars,  and  mounted  his  horse 
without  knowing  where  he  was  bound,  but  seeing  a 
collection  of  people  at  a  grocery  store,  he  alighted,  and 
reaching  over  the  group  around  the  card-dealer,  bet 
his  seventy  dollars  on  one  card.  He  lost  them,  and 
remounting,  went  on  his  way,  careless  in  what  direc- 
tion, until  after  a  little  time  a  justice,  Toledo  by  name, 
who  happened  to  be  passing,  stopped  him  to  ask  for  his 
passport.  Facundo  rode  up  as  if  about  to  give  it  to 
him,  pretended  to  be  feeling  for  something  in  his  pocket, 
and  stretched  the  justice  on  the  ground  with  a  stab. 
Was  he  taking  his  revenge  upon  the  judge  for  his 
recent  loss  at  play  ?  or  was  it  his  purpose  to  satisfy  the 
irritation  against  civil  authority  natural  to  a  gaucho 
outlaw,  and  increase,  by  this  new  deed,  the  splendor 
of  his  rising  fame  ?  Both  are  true  explanations.  This 
mode  of  revenging  himself  for  misfortunes  upon  what- 
ever first  offered  itself,  had  many  examples  in  his  life. 
When  he  was  addressed  as  General,  and  had  colonels 
at  his  orders,  he  had  two  hundred  lashes  given  one  of 
them  in  his  house  at  San  Juan,  for  having,  as  he  said, 
cheated  at  play.  He  ordered  two  hundred  lashes  to 
be  given  to  a  young  man  for  having  allowed  himself  a 
jest  at  a  time  when  jests  were  not  to  his  taste  ;  and 
two  hundred  lashes  was  the  penalty  inflicted  on  a 
woman  in  Mendoza  for  having  said  to  him  as  he 
passed,  "  Farewell,  General,"  when  he  was  going  off 
in  a  rage  at  not  having  succeeded  in  intimidating  a 


82  LIFE  IN   THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

neighbor  of  his,  who  was  as  peaceable  and  judicious  as 
Facundo  was  rash  and  gaucho-like. 

Facundo  reappears  later  in  Buenos  Ayres,  where 
he  was  enrolled  in  1810  as  a  recruit  in  the  regiment  of  ) 
Arribeiios,  which  was  commanded  by  General  Ocampo, 
a  native  of  his  own  province,  and  afterwards  president 
of  Charcas.  The  glorious  career  of  arms  opened  before 
him  with  the  first  rays  of  the  sun  of  May  ;  and  doubt- 
less, endowed  with  such  capacity  as  his,  and  with  his  de- 
structive and  sanguinary  instincts,  Facundo,  could  he 
have  been  disciplined  to  submit  to  civil  authority  and 
ennobled  in  the  sublimity  of  the  object  of  the  strife, 
might  some  day  have  returned  from  Peru,  Chili,  or 
Bolivia,  as  a  General  of  the  Argentine  Republic,  like 
so  many  other  brave  gauchos  who  began  their  careers 
in  the  humble  position  of  a  private  soldier.  But 
Quiroga's  rebellious  spirit  could  not  endure  the  yoke 
of  discipline,  the  order  of  the  barrack,  or  the  delay  of 
promotion.  He  felt  his  destiny  to  be  to  rule,  to  rise  at 
a  single  leap,  to  create  for  himself,  without  assistance, 
and  in  spite  of  a  hostile  and  civilized  society,  a  career 
of  his  own,  combining  bravery  and  crime,  government 
and  disorganization.  He  was  subsequently  recruited 
into  the  army  of  the  Andes,  and  enrolled  in  the 
Mounted  Grenadiers.  A  lieutenant  named  Garcia  , 
took  him  for  an  assistant,  and  very  soon  desertion  left, 
a  vacant  place  in  those  glorious  files.  Quiroga,  like  . 
Rosas,  like  all  the  vipers  that  have  thriven  under  the 
shade  of  their  country's  laurels,  made  himself  notori-  -. 
ous  in  after-life  by  his  hatred  for  the  soldiers  of  Inde- 
pendence, among  whom  both  the  men  above  named 
made  horrible  slaughter. 


DOMESTIC  CHARACTER.  83 

Facundo,  after  desertingjrom_£iienos  Ayres,  set  out 
for  the  interior  with  three  comrades.  A  squad  of 
soldiery  overtook  him ;  he  faced  the  pursuers  and 
engaged  in  a  real  battle  with  them,  which  remained 
undecided  for  awhile,  until,  after  having  killed  four  or 
five  men,  he  was  at  liberty  to  continue  his  journey, 
constantly  cutting  his  way  through  detachments  of 
troops  which  here  and  there  opposed  his  progress,  until 
he  arrived  at  San  Luis.  He  was,  at  a  later  day,  to 
traverse  the  same  route  with  a  handful  of  men,  to  dis- 
perse armies  instead  of  detachments,  and  proceed  to 
the  famous  citadel  of  Tucuman  to  blot  out  the  last 
remains  of  Republicanism  and  civil  order. 

Facundo  now  reappears  in  the  Llanos,  at  his  father's 
house.  At  this  period  occurred  an  event  which  is  well 
attested.  Yet  one  of  the  writers  whose  manuscripts  I 
am  using,  replies  to  an  inquiry  about  the  matter,  "that 
to  the  extent  of  his  knowledge  Quiroga  never  attempted 
forcibly  to  deprive  his  parents  of  money,"  and  I  could 
wish  to  adopt  this  statement,  irreconcilable  as  it  is  with 
unvarying  tradition  and  general  consent.  The  con- 
trary is  shocking  to  relate.  It  is  said  that  on  his 
father's  refusal  to  give  him  a  sum  of  money  which  he 
had  demanded,  he  watched  for  the  time  when  both 
parents  were  taking  an  afternoon  nap  to  fasten  the 
door  of  the  room  they  occupied,  and  to  set  iire  to  the 
straw  roof,  which  was  the  usual  covering  of  the  build- 
ings of  the  Llanos  ! l 

But  what  is  certain  in  the  matter  is  that  his  father 

1  The  author  afterwards  learned  that  Facundo  related  this  story  to  a 
company  of  ladies,  and  one  of  his  own  early  acquaintances  testified  to  his 
having  given  his  father  a  blow  on  one  occasion. 


84  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

once  requested  the  governor  of  La  Rioja  to  arrest  him 
in  order  to  check  his  excesses,  and  that  Facundo,  be- 
fore taking  flight  from  the  Llanos,  went  to  the  city  of 
La  Rioja,  \where  that  official  was  to  be  found  at  the 
time,  and  coming  upon  him  by  surprise,  gave  him  a 
blow,  saying  as  he  did  so,  "  You  have  sent,  sir,  to 
have  me  arrested.  There,  have  me  arrested  now  !  " 
On  which  he  'mounted  his  horse  and  set  off  for  the 
open  country  at  a  gallop.  At  the  end  of  a  year  he 
again  showed  himself  at  his  father's  house,  threw  him- 
self at  the  feet  of  the  old  man  whom  he  had  used  so 
ill,  and  succeeded  amid  the  sobs  of  both,  and  the  son's 
assurances  of  his  reform  in  reply  to  the  father's  recrim- 
inati6ns,  in  reestablishing  peace,  although  on  a  very 
uncertain  basis. 

But  no  change  occurred  in  his  character  and  dis- 
orderly habits  ;  races,  gambling  parties,  and  expedi- 
tions into  the  country  were  the  occasions  of  new  acts 
of  violence,  stabbings,  and  assaults  on  his  part,  until 
he  at  length  made  himself  intolerable  to  all,  and  ren- 
dered his  own  position  very  unsafe.  Then  a  great 
thought  which  he  announced  without  shame,  got  hold 
of  his  mind.  The  deserter  from  the  Arribenos  regi- 
ment, the  mounted  grenadier  who  refused  to  make  him- 
self immortal  at  Chacabuco  or  Maipu,  determined  to 
join  the  montonera  of  Ramirez,  the  offshoot  from  that 
led  by  Artigas,.  whose  renown  for  crime  and  hatred  for 
the  cities  on  which  it  was  making  war,  had  reached 
the  Llanos,  and  held  the  provincial  government"  in 
dread.  Facundo  set  forth  to  join  those  buccaneers  of 
the  pampa.  But  perhaps  the  knowledge  of  his  charaC* 
ter,  and  of  the  importance  of  the  aid  which  he  would 


FACUNDO   IN  PRISON.  85 

give  to  the  destroyers,  alarmed  his  fellow  provincials, 
for  they  informed  the  authorities  of  San  Luis,  through 
which  he  was  to  pass,  of  his  infernal  design.  Dupuis, 
then  (1818)  governor,  arrested  him,  and  for  sometime 
he  remained  unnoticed  among  the  criminals  confined 
in  the  prison.  This  prison  of  San  Luis,  however,  was 
to  be  the  first  step  in  his  ascent  to  the  elevation  which 
he  subsequently  attained.  San  Martin  had  sent  to 
San  Luis  a  great  number  of  Spanish  officers  of  all  ranks/ 
from  among  the  prisoners  taken  in  Chili.  Irritated  by 
their  humiliations  and  sufferings,  or  thinking  it  possible 
that  the  Spanish  forces  might  be  assembled  again,  this 
party  of  prisoners  rose  one  day  and  opened  the  door? 
of  the  cells  of  the  common  criminals,  to  obtain  theii 
aid  in  a  general  escape.  Facundo  was  one  of  these 
criminals,  and  as  soon  as  he  found  himself  free  from 
prison,  he  seized  an  iron  bar  of  his  fetters,  split  the 
skull  of  the  very  Spaniard  who  had  released  him,  and 
passing  through  the  group  of  insurgents,  left  a  wide 
path  strewn  with  the  dead.  Some  say  that  the  weapon 
he  employed  was  a  bayonet,  and  that  only  three  men 
were  killed  by  it.  Quiroga,  however,  always  talked  of 
the  iron  bar  of  the  fetters,  and  of  fourteen  dead  men. 
This^may  be  one  of  the  fictions  with  which  the  poetic 
imagination  of  the  people  adorns  the  types  of  brute 
force  they  so  much  admire  ;  perhaps  the  tale  of  the 
iron -bar  is  an  Argentine  version  of  the  jaw-bone  of 
Samson,  the  Hebrew  Hercules.  But  Facundo  looked 
upon  it  as  a  crown  of  glory,  in  accordance  with  his 
i 'idea  of  excellence,  and  whether  by  bar  or  bayonet,  he- 
succeeded,  aided  by  other  soldiers  and  prisoners  whom 
yhls  example  encouraged,  in  suppressing  the  insurrec- 


86  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE   REPUBLIC. 

tion  and  reconciling  society  to  himself  by  this  act  of 
bravery,  and  placing  himself  under  his  country's  pro- 
tection. Thus  his  name  spread  everywhere,  ennobled' 
and  cleansed,  though  with  blood,  from  the  stains  whicb 
had  tarnished  it. 

Facundo  returned  to  La  Rioja  covered  with  glory, 
his  country's  creditor  ;  and  with  testimonials  of  his 
conduct,  to  show  in  the  Llanos,  among  gauchos,  the 
new  titles  which  justified  the  terror  his  name  began  to 
inspire ;  for  there  is  something  imposing,  something 
which  subjugates  and  controls  others  in  the  man  who 
is  rewarded  for  the  assassination  of  fourteen  men  at 
one  time. 

Something  still  remains  to  be  noticed  of  the  previ- 
ous character  and  temper  of  this  pillar  of  the  Confed- 
eration. An  illiterate  man,  one  of  Quiroga's  compan- 
ions in  childhood  and  youth,  who  has  supplied  me  with 
many  of  the  above  facts,  sends  me  the  following  curi- 
ous statements  in  a  manuscript  describing  Quiroga's 
early  years  :  "  His  public  career  was  not  preceded 
by  the  practice  of  theft ;  he  never  committed  robbery 
even  in  his  most  pressing  necessities.  He  was  not  only 
fond  of  fighting,  but  would  pay  for  an  opportunity,  or 
for  a  chance  to  insult  the  most  renowned  champion  in* 
any  company.  He  had  a  great  aversion  to  respectable 
men.  He  never  drank.  He  was  very  reserved  from 
his  youth,  and  desired  to  inspire  others  with  awe  as 
well  as  with  fear,  for  which  purpose  he  gave  his  confi- 
dants to  understand  that  he  had'  the  gift  of  prophecy, 
in  short  was  a  soothsayer.  He  treated  all  connected 
with  him  as  slaves.  He  never  went  to  confession,  prayed, 
or  heard  mass  ;  I  saw  him  once  at  mass  after  he  be- 


CHARACTERISTICS.  89 

came  a  general.  He  said  of  himself  that  he  behind 
in  nothing."  The  frankness  with  which  these  wora. 
are  written,  prove  their  truth. 

And  here  ends  the  private  life  of  Quiroga,  in  which 
I  have  omitted  a  long  series  of  deeds  which  only  show 
his  evil  nature,  his  bad  education,  and  his  fierce  and 
bloody  instincts.  The  facts  stated  appear  to  me  to 
sum  up  the  whole  public  life  of  Quiroga.  I  see  in  them 

'Jthe  great  man,  the  man  of  genius,  in  spite  of  himself 
and  unknown  to  himself;  a  Caesar,  Tamerlane,  or 
Mohammed.  The  fault  is  not  his  that  thus  he  was  born. 
In  order  to  contend  with,  rule,  and  control  the  .power 

.of  J;he  city,  and  the  judicial  authority,  he  is  willingjx) 
descend  to  anything.  If  he  is  offered  a  place  in  the 
army,  he  disdains  it,  because  his  impatience  cannot 
wait  for  promotion.  Such  a  position  demands  submis- 
sion, and  places  fetters  upon  individual  independence  ; 
the  soldier's  coat  oppresses  his  body,  and  military  tac- 
tics control  his  steps,  all  of  which  are  insufferable  ! 
His  equestrian  life,  a  life  of  danger  and  of  strong  ex- 
citements, has  steeled  his  spirit  and  hardened  his  heart. 
He  feels  an  unconquerable  and  instinctive  hatred  for 
the  laws  which  have  pursued  him,  for  the  judges  who 
have  condemned  him,  and  for  the  whole  society  and 
organism  from  which  he  has  felt  himself  withdrawn 
from  his  childhood,  and  which  regards  him  with  suspi- 
cion and  contempt.  With  these  remarks  is  connected 
by  imperceptible  links  the  motto  of  this  chapter,  tfc  He 
is  the  natural  man,  as  yet  unused  either  to  repress  or 
disguise  his  passions  ;  he  does  not  restrain  their  energy, 
but  gives  free  rein  to  their  impetuosity.  This  is  the  • 
character  of  the  human  race."  And  thus  it  appears 


LIFE  IN   THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC,   f  / 

+  ' 
rural  districts  of  the  Argentine  Republic.     Fa- 

i-ando  is  a  type  of  primitive  barbarism.  He  recognized1 
no  form  of  subjection.  His  rage  was  that  of  a  wild 
beast.  The  locks  of  his  crisp  black  hair,  which  fell  in 
meshes  over  his  brow  and  eyes,  resembled  the  snakes 
of  Medusa's  head.  Anger  made  his  voice  hoarse,  and 
turned  his  glances  into  dragons.  In  a  fit  of  passion  he 
kicked  out  the  brains  of  a  man  with  whom  he  had 
quarreled  at  play.  He  tore  off  both  the  ears  of  a 
woman  he  had  lived  with,  and  had  promised  to  marry, 
upon  her  asking  him  for  thirty  dollars  for  the  celebra- 
tion of  the  wedding ;  and  laid  open  his  son  John's 
head  with  an  axe,  because  he  could  not  make  him  hold 
his  tongue.  He  violently  beat  a  beautiful  young  lady 
at  Tucuman,  whom  he  had  failed  either  to  seduce  or 
to  subdue,  and  exhibited  in  all  his  actions  a  low  and 
brutal  yet  not  a  stupid  nature,  or  one  wholly  without 
lofty  aims.  Incapable  of  commanding  noble  admir-a/ 
tion,  he  delighted  in  exciting  fear  j*  and  this  pleasure 
was  exclusive  and  dominant  with  him  to  the  arranging 
all  his  actions  so  as  to  produce  terror  in  those  around 
him,  whether  it  was  society  in  general,  the  victim  on 
his  way  to  execution,  or  his  own  wife  and  children. 
Wanting  ability  to  manage  the  machinery  of  civil  gov-  v 
eminent,  he  substituted  terror  for  patriotism  and  self- 
sacrifice.  Destitute  of  learning,  he  surrounded  himself 
with  mysteries,  and  pretended  to  a  foreknowledge  of 
events  which  gave  him  prestige  and  reputation  among 
the  commonalty,  supporting  his  claims  by  an  air  of 
impenetrability,  by  natural  sagacity,  an  uncommon  .  > 
power  of  observation,  and  the  advantage  he  derived ,  - 
from  vulgar  credulity. 


FACUNDO  AS  A  DIVINER.  89 

'jL\ 

The  repertory  of  anecdotes  relating  to  Quiroga,  and 
^  with  which  the  popular  memory  is  replete,  is  inexhaust- 
ible ;  his  sayings,  his  expedients,  bear  the  stamp  of  an 
originality  which  gives  them  a  certain  Eastern  aspect, 
a  certain  tint  of  Solomonic  wisdom  in  the  conception  of 
the  vulgar.     Indeed,  how  does  Solomon's  advice  for 
discovering  the  true  mother  of  the  disputed  child  differ 
I     from  Facundo's  method  of  detecting  a  thief  in  the  fol- 

L     lowing  instances  :  — 

*%•  An  article  had  been  stolen  from  a  band,  and  all 
endeavors  to  discover  the  thief  had  proved  fruitless. 
Quiroga  drew  up  the  troops  and  gave  orders  for  the 
cutting  of  as  many  small  wands  of  equal  length  as  there 
were  soldiers ;  then,  having  had  these  wands  distrib- 
uted one  to  each  man,  he  said  in  a  confident  voice, 
"  The  man  whose  wand  will  be  longer  than  the  others 
to-morrow  morning  is  the  thief."  Next  day  the  troops 
was  again  paraded,  and  Quiroga  proceeded  to  inspect 
the  >,wands.  There  was  one  whose  wand  was,  not 
longer -but  shorter  than  the  others.  "  Wretch  !  "  cried 
Facundo,  in  a  voice  which  overpowered  the  man  with 
dismay,  "it  is  thou  !  "  And  so  it  was ;  the  culprit's 
confusion  was  proof  of  the  fact.  The  expedient  was 
a  simple  one ;  the  credulous  gaucho,  fearing  that  his 
wand  would  really  grow,  had  cut  off  a  piece  of  it.  ^ut 
to  avail>one's  self  of  such  means,  a  man  must  be  supe- 
rior in  intellect  to  those  about  him,  and  must  at  least 
have  some  knowledge  of  human  nature. 

Some  portions  of  a  soldier's  accoutrements  having 
been  stolen  and  all  inquiries  having  failed  to  detect  the 
thief,  Quiroga  had  the  troops  paraded  and  marched 
past  him  as  he  stood  with  crossed  arms  and  a  fixed, 
piercing,  and  terrible  gaze.  He  had  previously  said, 


90  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

"  I  know  the  man,"  with  an  air  of  assurance  not  to 
be  questioned.  The  review  began  ;  many  men  had 
passed,  and  Quiroga  still  remained  motionless,  like  the 
statue  of  Jupiter  Tonans  or  the  God  of  the  Last  Judg- 
ment. All  at  once  he  descended  upon  one  man,  and 
said  in  a  curt  and  dry  voice,  "  Where  is  the  saddle  ?  " 
"  Yonder,  sir,"  replied  the  other,  pointing,  to  a  thicket. 
"  Ho  !  four  fusileers  ! "  cried  Quiroga.  What  revela- 
tion was  this  ?  that  of  terror  and  guilt  made  to  a  man 
of  sagacity. 

On  another  occasion,  when  a  gaucho  was  answering 
to  charges  of  theft  which  had  been  brought  against 
him,  Facundo  interrupted  him  with  the  words,  "  This 
rogue  has  begun  to  lie.  Ho,  there  !  a  hundred  lashes  !  " 
When  the  criminal  had  been  taken  away,  Quiroga  said 
to  some  one  present,  "  Look  you,  my  master,  when  a 
gaucho  moves  his  foot  while  talking,  it  is  a  sign  he  is 
telling  lies."  The  lashes  extorted  from  the  gaucho  the 
confession  that  he  had  stolen  a  yoke  of  oxen. 

At  another  time  he  was  in  need  of  a  man  of  resolu- 
tion and  boldness  to  whom  he  could  intrust  a  danger- 
ous mission.  When  a  man  was  brought  to  him  for 
this  purpose,  Quiroga  was  writing  ;  he  raised  his  head 
after  the  man's  presence  had  been  repeatedly  an- 
nounced, looked  at  him  and  returned  to  his  writing 
with  the  remark,  "  Pooh !  that  is  a  wretched  creature. 
I  want  a  brave  man  and  a  venturesome  one ! "  It 
turned  out  to  be  true  that  the  fellow  was  actually  good 
for  nothing. 

Hundreds  of  such  stories  of  Facundo's  life,  which 
show  the  man  of  superior  ability,  served  effectually  to 
give  him  a  mysterious  fame  among  the  vulgar,  who 
even  attribute  superior  powers  to  him. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

LA    RIOJA. 

"  The  sides  of  the  mountain  enlarge  and  assume  an  aspect  at  once  more  grand 
and  more  barren.  By  little  and  little,  the  scanty  vegetation  languishes  and  dies  ; 
and  mosses  disappear,  and  a  red  burning  hue  succeeds."  —  Roussee's  Palestine. 

THE   COUNTRY   COMMANDANT. 

IN  a  document  dating  as  far  back  as  1560,  I  have 
seen  recorded  the  name  of  Mendoza  of  the  valley  of 
La  Rioja.  But  La  Rioja  proper  is  an  Argentine  prov- 
ince lying  north  of  San  Juan,  from  which  it  is  separ- 
ated by  several  strips  of  desert,  although  these  are 
broken  by  some  inhabited  valleys.  Its  western  portion 
is  intersected  in  parallel  lines  by  spurs  branching  off 
from  the  Andes  and  including  in  their  valleys  los  Pue- 
blos and  Little  Chili,  as  it  was  called  by  the  Chilian 
miners,  who  frequented  the  rich  and  renowned  mines 
of  Famatina. 

Further  to  the  east  stretches  a  sandy,  barren,  and 
sun-scorched  plain,  at  the  northern  extremity  of  which, 
and  near  a  mountain  covered  to  its  summit  with  rank  and 
lofty  vegetation,  lies  the  skeleton  of  La  Rioja,  a  lonely 
city  with  no  suburbs,  and  withered  away,  as  it  were, 
like  Jerusalem  at  the  foot  of  the  Mount  of  Olives.  This 
sandy  plain  is  bounded,  far  towards  the  south,  by  the 
Colorados,  mountains  of  hardened  clay,  whose  regular 
outlines  take  the  most  picturesque  and  fantastic  forms ; 


fd2  LIFE  IN   THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

sometimes  resembling  a  smooth  wall  with  projecting  bas- 
tions ;  sometimes  suggesting  to  the  eye  massive  towers 
and  the  battlements  of  ruined  castles.  Lastly,  in  the 
southeast  and  surrounded  by  extensive  wastes,  lie  the 
Llanos,  a  broken  and  hilly  region,  in  spite  of  its  name, 
forming  an  oasis  of  pasturage  which  formerly  main- 
tained thousands  of  flocks. 

The  general  aspect  of  the  country  is  desolate,  its 
climate  torrid,  its  soil  parched  and  destitute  of  running 
streams.  Reservoirs  called  represas  are  constructed  by 
the  peasantry  to  collect  rain-water  for  the  supply  of 
their  animals.  I  have  always  been  disposed  to  think 
that  the  general  aspect  of  Palestine  resembles  that  of 
La  Rioja,  in  the  reddish  or  ochreous  tints  of  the  soil, 
the  dryness  of  some  regions  and  their  cisterns  ;  also  the 
orange-trees,  vines,  and  fig-trees  bearing  exquisite  and 
enormous  fruits,  which  are  raised  along  the*  course  of 
some  turbid  and  confined  Jordan.  There  is  a  strange 
combination  of  mountain  and  plain,  fruitfulness  and 
aridity,  parched  and  bristling  heights,  and  hills  covered 
with  dark  green  forests  as  lofty  as  the  cedars  of  Leba^ 
non. 

What  chiefly  brings  these  reminiscences  of  the  East 
before  my  imagination  is  the  truly  patriarchal  appear- 
ance of  the  country  people  of  La  Rioja.  Thanks  to 
caprices  of  fashion,  there  is  now  nothing  unusual  in 
seeing  men  with  full  beards,  according  to  the  immemo- 
rial practice  of  Eastern  nations  ;  but  yet  this  fact  would 
-not  wholly  prevent  the  surprise  naturally  occasioned 
by  the  sight  of  a  Spanish-speaking  population  among 
whom  full  beards,  frequently  descending  to  the  chest, 
are,  and  always  have  been  worn  ;  a  populatio«  of  mel- 


FEUD  BETWEEN   OCAMPOS   AND   DAVILAS.  93 

ancholy,  silent,  sedate,  and  crafty  demeanor  ;  of  Arabic 
aj)pearance,  riding  upon  asses,  and  sometimes  clothed 
in  goat-skins,  like  the  hermit  of  En-gedi.  There  are 
places  where  the  people  live  exclusively  on  wild  honey 
and  the  fruit  of  the  carob-tree,  as  St.  John  did  on  lo- 
custs in  the  desert.  The  Llanista  himself  is  alone  un- 
conscious of  being  the  most  unfortunate,  wretched,  and 
barbarous  of  mortals,  and  thanks  to  this  ignorance,  he 
lives  contentedly  and  happily  when  hunger  does  not 
trouble  him. 

I  have  already  said  that  there  are  in  Rioja  some  red- 
dish mountains  which  bear  at  a  distance  a  resem- 
blance to  towers  and  feudal  castles  in  ruins  ;  and  still 
other  medieval  characteristics  are  mingled  with  the 
Oriental  resemblances  above  referred  to,  for  in  Rioja 
there  has  been  a  contest  of  a  century  between  two 
hostile  families,  whose  enmity,  rank,  and  celebrity  find 
an  accurate  parallel  among  the  Ursini,  Colonnas,  and 
Medici  of  Italian  feuds.  The  whole  history,  .of_. the 
civilized  inhabitants  of  La  Rioja  is  that  of  the  conten- 
tions of  the  Ocampos  and  Davilas.  These  families, 
alike  ancient,  rich,  and  noble,  long  strove  with  each 
other  for  supremacy,  and,  even  long  before  the  Revo- 
lution of  Independence,  had  divided  the  population 
into  parties  like  those  of  the  Guelphs  and  Ghibellines. 
A  great  number  of  the  members  of  these  two  families 
have  distinguished  themselves  in  arms,  at  the  bar,  and 
in  industrial  pursuits  ;  for  the  Davilas  and  the  Ocampos 
were  ever  attempting  to  surpass  each  other  by  every 
method  of  acquiring  power  recognized  by  civilization. 
The  extinction  of  this  hereditary  animosity  was  often 
an  object  of  the  policy  of  the  patriots  of  Buenos  Ayres. 


94  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

The  two  families  were  induced  by  the  logic  of  Lautaro 
to  unite  an  Ocampo  with  a  lady  of  the  Davila  family  in 
order  to  promote  a  reconciliation.  All  know  that  such 
was  the  Italian  practice  ;  but  on  this  occasion  the  Romeo 
and  Juliet  were  more  fortunate.  Towards  1817  the 
government  of  Buenos  Ayres,  also  with  the  view  of 
ending  the  hostility  of  these  families,  sent  the  province 
a  governor  from  without,  Barnachea  by  name,  who  fell 
ere  long  under  the  influence  of  the  Ddvila  party,  de- 
pendent upon  the  support  of  Don  Prudencio  Quiroga,  a 
man  much  beloved  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  Llanos 
where  he  lived  ;  he  had  been  summoned  to  the  city  and 
appointed  Treasurer  and  Alcalde.  The  rural  districts 
were  just  beginning,  although  in  a  legitimate  and  noble 
manner,  in  Don  Prudencio  Quiroga,  Facundo's  father, 
to  come  into  play  as  a  political  element  among  the  civil 
parties.  The  Llanos  I  have  stated,  consist  of  a  hilly  oasis 
of  pasture  land  in  the  midst  of  an  extensive  desert  (tra- 
vesia)  ;  their  inhabitants,  exclusively  shepherds,  lead 
that  patriarchal  and  primitive  life  which  its  isolation 
preserves  in  all  its  purity  and  hostility  to  the  cities. 
Hospitality  is  in  that  region  a  duty  of  general  obliga- 
tion. The  laborer  defends  his  master  from  all  kinds  of  •• 
danger,  even  at  the  risk  of  his  own  life.  These  customs 
will  of  themselves  furnish  a  partial  explanation  of  the 
phenomena  we  are  to  witness. 

After  the  event  that  occurred  in  his  favor  at  San 
Luis,  Facundo  made  his  appearance  on  the  Llanos  in- 
vested with  the  prestige  of  his  recent  exploit,  and  for- 
tified with  a  recommendation  from  the  government. 
The  parties  dividing  La  Rioja  were  not  slow  to  solicit 
the  adhesion  of  a  man  regarded  by  all  with  the  respect 


1     ALDAO  AND  CORRO.  95 

and  dread  always  felt  for  deeds  of  unusual  daring. 
The  Ocampos,  who  came  into  power  in  1820,  gave  him 
the  title  of  Sergeant  Major  of  the  Militia  of  the  Llanos, 
with  the  influence  and  authority  of  Commandant. 

The  beginring  of  his  public  career  starts  from  this 
moment.  The  pastoral  and  barbaric  element  of  La 
Rioja,  the  same  with  that  third . force  which  appears 
with  Artigas  at  the  siege  of  Montevideo,  is  now  to  pre- 
sent itself  at  La  Rioja  with  Quiroga,  upon  whom  one 
of  the  parties  of  the  city  had  called  for  support.  The 
moment  of  such  an  action  is  a  solemn  and  critical 
one  in  the  history  of  all  the  pastoral  states  ^  of  the 
Argentine  Republic  ;  in  each  there  comes  a  day  when  a 
man  of  audacity  is  made  country  commandant  either 
because  he  is  already  dreaded,  or  because  foreign  aid 
is  needed.  Such  a  man  is  a  Grecian  horse  like  that 
which  the  Trojans  made  haste  to  bring  into  the  city. 
-  At  this  time  occurred  at  San  Juan  the  unfortunate 
insurrection  of  the  first  regiment  of  the  Andes,  which 
had  returned  from  Chili  for  reorganization.  Francisco 
Aldao  and  Corro,  foiled  in  the  objects  of  the  rebellion, 
undertook  a  calamitous  retreat  towards  the  north  to 
join  Giiemes,  a  partisan  chieftain  of  Salta.  General 
Ocampo,  Governor  of  La  Rioja,  took  measures  to  bar 
their  passage,  and  for  that  purpose  called  out  all  the 
forces  of  the  province  and  made  ready  for  a  battle. 
Facundo  was  at  hand  with  his  Llanistas  [men  of  the 
plains].  The  action  began,  and  a  few  minutes  were 
enough  to  show  that  the  First  Regiment  had,  by  rebel- 
lion, lost  none  of  their  ancient  lustre  on  fields  of  battle. 
Corro  and  Aldao  moved  upon  the  city,  and  their  scat- 
,  tered  antagonists  betook  themselves  for  reorganization 


96  LIFE  IN   THE   ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

to  the  Llanos,  where  they  could  await  the  arrival  pf 
the  troops  from  San  Juan  and  Mendoza  who  were  in: 
pursuit  of  the  fugitives.  Facundo  meanwhile,  aban- 
doning the  point  of  reunion,  fell  upon  the  rear-guard 
of  the  victors,  skirmishing  with  and  harassing  them, 
and  killing  or  capturing  their  stragglers.  Facundo  was 
the  only  man  endowed  with  a  life  of  his  own,  waiting" 
for  no  orders,  wholly  influenced  by  the  motive  power 
'within  himself.  He  had  felt  himself  called  to  action, 
and  waited  for  no  impulse  from  without.  Yet  more  ; 
he  spoke  scornfully  of  the  government  and  of  the 
General,  and  declared  his  intention  of  overthrowing 
it  and  acting  henceforward  as  his  judgment  might  dic- 
tate. It  is  said  that  a  council  of  the  chief  officers  of 
the  army  urged  upon  General  Ocampo  his  arrest,  trial, 
and  execution  ;  but  the  General  declined,  perhaps  less 
from  moderation  than  from  a  feeling  that  Quiroga  was 
now  less  a  subordinate  officer  than  a  formidable  ally. 

A  definite  agreement  between  Aldao  and  the  gov- 
ernment decided  that  the  former  should  return  to  San 
Luis,  it  not  being  his  wish  to  follow  Corro,  and  the 
government  engaging  to  provide  means  for  his  passage 
through  its  territory  by  a  route  across  the  Llanos. 
Facundo  was  charged  with  the  performance  of  this 
part  of  the  stipulation,  and  returned  with  Aldao  to  the 
Llanos.  Quiroga  by  this  time  was  conscious  of  his 
power  ;  and  when  he  turned  his  back  on  La  Rioja,  he 
might  have  taken  leave  of  it  with  the  saying,  "  Woe 
to  thee,  O  city  !  Verily  I  say  unto  thee  that  yet  a 
little  while,  and  there  shall  not  be  left  of  thee  one  stone 
upon  another." 

Aldao,  upon  his  arrival  at  the  Llanos,  offered  Qui- 


FACUNDO  AS  COMMANDANT.  97 

roga,  with  whose  discontent  he  had  become  acquainted, 
•A  a  hundred  drilled  soldiers,  to  enable  him  to  make  him- 
self master  of  La  Rioja,  in  exchange  for  his  aid  in  fu- 
ture enterprises.    Quiroga  eagerly  assented,  set  out  for . 
'  the  city,  took  ?t,  captured  the  officers  of  the  government, 
sent  them  confessors,  and  orders  to  prepare  themselves 
for  death.      What  object  had   he  in  this  revolution? 
None.     Feeling  himself  powerful  and  stretching  out 
his  arms,  he  overthrew  the  city.     Is  it  his  fault  ? 

Old  Chilian  patriots  doubtless  still  remember  the 
prowess  of  Sergeant  Araya  of  the  Mounted  Grenadiers  ; 
for  among  those  veterans  the  halo  of  glory  frequently 
rested  upon  the  common  soldier.  The  priest  Men£- 
ses  has  informed  me  that,  after  the  rout  of  Cancha  Ra- 
yada,  Sergeant  Araya  and  seven  grenadiers  went  to 
Mendoza.  It  was  heart-breaking  to  the  patriots  to  see 
the  bravest  soldiers  of  their  army  passing  and  repass- 
"ing  the  Andes  while  Las  Heras  still  had  forces  at  his 
command  to  face  the  Spaniards.  The  detention  of 
Sergeant  Araya  was  projected ;  but  a  difficulty  pre- 
sented itself.  Who  was  to  approach  him  ?  A  detach- 
ment of  seventy  militia-men  was  at  hand  ;  but  all  the 
soldiers  knew  that  the  fugitive  was  Sergeant  Araya,  and 
they  would  have  been  a  thousand  times  more  ready  to 
attack  the  Spaniards  than  this  lion  of  the  grenadiers. 
Upon  this,  Don  Jose*  Maria  Mene*ses,  alone  and  un- 
armed, followed  and  overtook  Araya,  and,  intercepting 
him  on  his  way,  reminded  him  of  his  past  glories  and 
of  the  disgrace  of  an.  objectless  flight.  Araya  was 
not  deaf  to  this  appeal,  and  yielded  unresistingly  to 
the  entreaties  and  commands  of  the  good  neighbor. 
He  then  became  enthusiastic,  hastened  to  stop  other 


98  LIFE  IN   THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

squads  of  grenadiers  who  had  preceded  him  in  flight, 
and  his  diligence  and  reputation  enabled  him  to  join  the 
army  again  with  seventy  comrades  in  arms,  who  cleared 
their  laurels  at  Maipu  of  the  momentary  stain  which 
had  rested  on  them. 

This  Sergeant  Araya  and  a  man  named  Lorca,  alsp- 
known  in  Chili  by  his  bravery,  commanded  the  force  , 
placed  by  Aldao  under  Facundo's  orders.  The  pris- 
oners at  La  Rioja  who  were  under  sentence  of  death,' 
among  them  Dr.  Don  Gabriel  Ocampo,  a  former  min- 
ister of  government,  entreated  Lorca  to  protect  them 
by  his  intercession.  Facundo,  feeling  yet  insecure  in 
his  momentary  elevation,  consented  to  grant  their 
lives ;  but  this  limit  set  to  his  power  made  him  aware 
that  he  must  have  full  control  of  this  veteran  force,  in 
order  to  avoid  future  opposition. 

Returning  to  the  Llanos,  he  came  to  an  understand-  - 
ing  with  Araya,  and  in  pursuance  of  their  agreement, 
they  fell  upon  the  rest  of  Aldao's  force  by  surprise,  and 
Facundo  then  found  himself  at  the  head  of  four  hun- 
dred regulars,  from  whose  ranks  were  afterwards  drawn 
the  officers  of  his  first  armies. 

Remembering  that  Don  Nicholas  Davila  was  in  exile 
at'Tucuman,  he  summoned  him  to  take  charge  of  the 
annoying  details  of  the  government  of  La  Rioja,  himself 
retaining  the  real  supremacy,  which  followed  him  to  the 
Llanos.  The  breach  between  him  and  men  like  the 
Ocampos  and  Davilas  was  too  wide,  and  the  change 
from  their  government  to  his,  too  sudden,  to  be  effected 
at  a  blow ;  the  spirit  of  the  city  was  still  too  powerful  for 
that  of  the  country  to  control  openly  ;  a  Doctor  of  Laws 
was  still  thought  to  make  a  better  government  official 
than  any  laborer.  But  all  this  was  afterwards  changed. 


DAVILA  MADE  GOVERNOR.  99 

Davila  undertook  the  government  under  Facundo, 
and  for  the  time  all  occasion  for  trouble  seemed  over. 
The  possessions  and  estates  of  the  Davilas  were  situ- 
ated near  Chilecito,  and  there,  consequently,  in  the 
kinsmen  and  friends  of  the  family,  was  concentrated 
the  physical  and  moral  force  likely  to  sustain  the  new 
governor.  As  the  population  of  Chilecito  increased 
with  the  profitable  working  of  the  mines,  and  as  large 
fortunes  had  been  amassed  there,  the  government  es- 
tablished a  provincial  bank  in  this  small  town,  to  which  ' 
it  transferred  its  residence,  either  to  carry  out  the  un- 
dertaking or  to  withdraw  itself  from  the  Llanos  and 
the  disagreeable  subjection  in  which  Quiroga  was  dis- 
posed to  keep  that  region.  Before  long,  Davila  pro- 
ceeded from  these  purely  defensive  measures  to  more 
decided  action.  Availing  himself  of  Facundo's  tempo- 
rary absence  at  San  Juan,  he  laid  plans  with  Captain 
Araya  to  have  him  arrested  on  his  return.  Facundo 
learned  what  awaited  him,  and,  secretly  entering  the 
Llanos,  had  Araya  assassinated.  The  government  v^hose 
authority  had  been  thus  contemptuously  defied,  sum- 
moned him  to  answer  to  the  charge  of  assassination. 
Ridiculous  parody !  But  there  was  no  other  means  of 
appealing  to  arms  and  of  kindling  civil  war  between 
the  government  and  Qiiiroga,  between  the  city  and  the 
Llanos.  Facundo,  in  his  turn,  sent  commissioners  to  the 
Representative  Assembly,  to  request  the  deposition  of 
Davila.  The  Assembly  had  urgently  called  upon  the 
governor  to  invade  the  Llanos  and  with  the  support  of  «••• 
all  the  citizens,  to  disarm  Quiroga.  The  members  had 
a  local  interest  in  the  matter,  which  was  the  transfer  df 
the  bank  to  the  city  of  La  Rioja ;  but  as  Davila  per- 


100  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

sisted  in  residing  at  Chilecito,  the  Assembly  yielded 
to  Facundo's  solicitations  and  declared  Davila  deposed. 
Governor  Davila  had  assembled  many  of  Aldao's 
soldiers  under  the  command  of  Don  Miguel  Davila. 
He  had  a  good  supply  of  military  equipments,  many 
adherents  desirous  of  preserving  the  province  from  the 
rule  of  the  chieftain  who  was  strengthening  himself  in, 
the  Llanos,  and  also  several  regular  officers  to  lead 
his  troops.  Preparations  for  war  were  begun,  then, 
with  equal  zeal,  in  Chilecito  and  in  the  Llanos.  Ru- 
mors of  these  unhappy  events  reached  San  Juan  and, 
Mendbza,  the  government  of  which  sent  a  commis- 
sion to  attempt  to  make  an  arrangement  between  the 
belligerents,  who,  by  that  time,  were  on  the  point  of 
actual  conflict.  Corbalan,  the  same  now  serving  in 
Rosas'  ordnance  corps,  visited  Quiroga's  camp  to  at- 
.tempt  the  mediation  for  which  he  had  been  sent,  and 
which  the  chieftain  accepted  ;  he  next  went  to  the  op- 
posing camp,  where  he  met  the  same  cordial  reception  ; 
and  finally  returned  to  the  camp  of  Quiroga  to  arrange 
the  exact  terms  of  agreement,  but  Quiroga,  leaving 
him  there,  marched  hastily  against  his  enemy,  whose 
forces  he  easily  routed  and  dispersed,  owing  to  the 
.negligence  into  which  the  deluded  envoy's  assurances 
had  caused  them  to  fall.  Don  Miguel  Davila,  collect- 
ing some  of  his  men,  resolutely  attacked  Quiroga,  and 
succeeded  in  wounding  him  in  one  thigh  before  being 
himself  disabled  by  a  shot  in  the  wrist ;  he  was  after- 
wards surrounded  and  killed  by  Quiroga's  soldiers.  A 
fact  very  characteristic  of  the  gaucho  spirit  is  connected 
with  this  incident.  A  soldier  takes  pleasure  in  show- 
ing his  wounds  ;  the  gaucho  hides  such  as  he  has  re- 


BLANCO  MADE  GOVERNOR.  101 

ceived  in  close  combat,  and  avoids  having  their  exist-! 
ence  known,  because  they  attest  a  want  of  skill  on  his 
part.  Facundo,  faithful  to  these  notions  of  honor,  never 
mentioned  the  wound  which  Davila  had  given  him. 

Here  ends  the  history  of  the  Ocampos  and  Davilas, 
and  with  it  that  of  La  Rioja.  What  follows  is  the  his- 
tory of  Quiroga. 

That  day  of  evil  omen  corresponds  to  April  of  1835 
in  the  history  of  Buenos  Ayres — when  its  country  com-  t 
mandant,  its  desert  hero,  made  himself  master  of  the  city. 

I  ought  not  to  omit,  since  it  is  to  Quiroga's  honor,  a 
curious  fact  which  (1823)  occurred  at  this  time.  The 
feeblest  gleam  of  light  is  not  to  be  disregarded  in  the 
blackness  of  that  night. 

Facundo,  upon  his  triumphant  entry  into  La  Rioja, 
stopped  the  ringing  of  the  bells,  and  after  sending  a  mes- 
sage of  condolence  to  the  widow  of  the  slain  General, 
directed  his  ashes  to  be  honored  with  a  stately  funeral. 
He  appointed  for  governor  one  Blanco,  a  Spaniard  of 
low  rank,  and  with  him  began  the  new  order  of  affairs 
which  was  to  realize  the  best  ideal  of  government,  as 
conceived  by  Facundo  Quiroga ;  for,  in  his  long  career 
among  the  various  cities  which  he  conquered,  he  never 
took  upon  himself  the  charge  of  organizing  goyern- 
vments;  he  always  left  that  task  to  others. 

The  moment  of  the  grasp  of  power  over  the  destinies 
of  a  commonwealth  by  a  vigorous  hand  is  ever  an  im- ' 
portant  one  and  deserves  attention.  Old  institutions 
are  strengthened,  or  give  place  to  others,  newer  and 
more  productive  of  good  results,  or  better  adapted  to 
prevailing  ideas.  From  such  a  focus  often  diverge  the 
threads  which,  as  time  weaves  them  together,  change 
the  web  of  history. 


102  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

It  is  otherwise  when  the  prevailing  force  is  one  for- 
eign to  civilization,  —  when  an  Attila  obtains  possession 
of  Rome,  or  a  Tamerlane  traverses  the  plains  of  Asia  ; 
old  forms  remain,  but  the  hand  of  philosophy  would 
afterwards  vainly  remove  them  with  the  view  of  find- 
ing beneath  them  plants  which  had  gained  vigor  from 
the  human  blood  given  them  for  nourishment.  Fa- 
cundo,  a  man  imbued  with  the  genius  of  barbarism, 
gets  control  of  his  country  ;  the  traditions  of  govern- 
ment disappear,  established  forms  deteriorate,  the  law 
is  a  plaything  in  vile  hands ;  and  nothing  is  maintained, 
nothing  established,  amid  the  destruction  thus  accom- 
plished by  the  trampling  feet  of  horses.  Freedom 
from  restraint,  occupation,  and  care,  is  the  supreme 
good  of  the  gaucho.  If  La  Rioja  had  contained  statues, 
as  it  contained  doctors,  they  would  have  had  horses  tied 
to  them,  but  they  would  have  served  no  other  purpose. 

Facundo  wanted  to  have  means  at  his  command,  and, 
as  he  was  incapable  of  creating  a  revenue  system,  he  re- 
sorted to  the  ordinary  proceeding  of  dull  or  weak  govern- 
ments ;  but  in  this  case  the  monopoly  bears  the  stamp 
of  South  American  pastoral  life,  spoliation,  and  violence. 
The  tithes  of  La  Rioja  were,  at  this  time  farmed  out  at 
ten  thousand  piastres  a  year  ;  this  was  the  average  rate. 
Facundo  made  his  appearance  at  the  board,  and  his  pres- 
ence overawed  the  shepherds.  "  I  offer  two  thousand 
piastres  a  year,"  said  he,  "  and  one  more  than  the  best 
bid."  The  committee  repeated  the  proposal  three 
times ;  no  one  made  a  bid  ;  all  present  left,  one  by  one, 
reading  in  Quiroga's  sinister  glance  that  it  was  the  last 
one  he  would  allow.  The  next  year  he  contented  him- 
self with  sending  to  the  board  the  following  note  :  — 


FACUNDO   AS  FINANCIER.  103 

-"  I  give  two  thousand  dollars  and  one  more  than  the  best  bid. 

"  FACUNDO  QUIROGA." 

The  third  year  the  ceremony  of  adjudication  was 
omitted,  and  in  1831,  Quiroga  again  sent  to  La  Rioja 
the  sum  of  two  thousand  dollars,  his  estimate  for  the 
tithes. 

But  to  make  his  tithes  bring  in  a  hundred  for  one, 
another  step  was  required,  and,  after  the  second  year, 
Facundo  refused  to  receive  the  tribute  of  animals  oth- 
erwise than  by  giving  his  mark  among  the  proprietors, 
so  that  they  might  brand  with  it  the  animals  set  apart 
for  the  tithe  and  keep  them  on  the  place  until  he  called 
for  them.  The  creatures  multiplied,  their  number  was 
constantly  .augmented  by  new  tithes,  and,  after  ten 
years,  it  might  be  reckoned  that  half  the  stock  of  a 
whole  pastoral  province  belonged  to  the  commanding 
general  of  the  forces,  and  bore  his  mark. 

It  was  the  immemorial  custom  in  La  Rioja  that  the 
estrays,  or  the  animals  that  were  not  marked  at  a  cer- 
tain age,  should  become  the  lawful  property  of  the  treas- 
ury, which  sent  its  agents  to  collect  these  gleanings,  and 
derived  no  contemptible  revenue  from  them,  but  the 
annoyance  to  the  proprietors  was  intolerable.  Fa- 
cundo demanded  the  adjudication  to  himself  of  these 
animals,  to  meet  the  expenses  he  had  incurred  for  the 
invasion  of  the  city  ;  expenses  which  were  reducible 
to  the  summons  of  irregular  forces,  who  assembled, 
mounted  on  horses  of  their  own,  and  lived  constantly 
on  what  came  in  their  way.  Already  the  proprietor 
of  herds  which  brought  him  six  thousand  bullocks 
a  year,  he  sent  his  agents  to  supply  the  city  markets, 
and  woe  to  any  competitor  who  should  appear  !  This 


104  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

business  of  supplying  meat  for  the  markets  was  one 
which  he  carried  on  wherever  he  ruled,  in  San  Juan, 
Mendoza,  or  Tucuman ;  and  he  was  always  careful  to 
secure  the  monopoly  of  it  by  proclamation  or  simple 
notification.  It  is  with  shame  and  disgust  that  I  men- 
tion these  disgraceful  transactions,  but  the  truth  must  be 
told.  \ 

The  general's  first  order,  after  a  bloody  battle  which 
had  laid  a  city  open  to  him,  was  that  no  one  should 
supply  the  markets  with  meat !  In  Tucuman  he  learned 
that  a  resident  of  the  place  was  killing  cattle  in  his 
house,  in  spite  of  this  order.  The  general  of  the  army 
of  the  An^es,  the  conqueror  of  the  Citadel,  thought 
the  investigation  of  so  dreadful  a  crime  should  be  en- 
trusted only  to  himself.  He  went  in  person,  and 
knocked  lustily  at  the  door  of  the  house,  which  refused 
to  yield,  and  which  the  inmates,  taken  by  surprise,  did 
not  open.  A  kick  from  the  illustrious  general  broke 
it  'in,  and  exposed  to  his  view  a  dead  ox,  whose  hide 
was  in  process  of  removal  by  the  master  of  the  house, 
who  also  fell  dead  in  his  turn  at  the  terrible  sight  of 
the  offended  general ! l 

1  In  consequence  of  the  present  law,  the  government  of  the  province  has 
obtained  the  assent  of  His  Excellencj1-  General  Don  Juan  Facundo  Quiroga, 
to  the  following  stipulations,  agreeably  to  his  note  of  September  14, 1833. 

1.  That  he  will  make  good  to  the  Most  Excellent  Government  of  Buenos 
Ay  res  the  sum  invested  by  it  in  the  said  property. 

2.  That  he  will  supply  the  province  without  incumbrance  to  the  revenue, 
with  five  thousand  pesos,  to  meet  the  difficulty  of  filling  its  contingent  ; 
three  thousand  pesos  in  cash  and  the  remainder  in  the  produce  of  live 
stock:  for  the  payment  of  which  only  the  members  of  the  trade  of  butcher- 
ing shall  be  responsible. 

3.  That  he  is  to  have  the  exclusive  right  of  supplying  the  markets,  sell- 
ing to  the  public  at  the  rate  of  five  reals  the  arroba  of  meat,  which  now 


FACUNDO'S  AVARICE. 

I  do  not  intentionally  dwell  upon  these  ti. 
many  I  omit !     How  many  misdeeds  I  pass 
silence  which  are  fully  proved  and  known  to  all  l 
I  am  writing  the  history  of  government  by  barbarian 
and  I  am  forced  to  state  its  methods. 

Mehemet  Ali,  who  became  master  of  Egypt  by 
means  identical  with  those  of  Facundo,  delivers  him- 
self up  to  a  rapacity  unexampled  even  in  Turkey ; 
he  establishes  monopolies  in  every  occupation  and  turns 
them  to  his  own  profit ;  but  Mehemet  Ali,  though  he^ 
springs  from  a  barbarous  nation,  rises  above  liis  con- 
dition  so  far  as  to  wish  to  acquire  European  civiliza- 
tion for  himself  and  for  the  people  he  qppresses.  Fa- 
cundo, on  the  contrary,  not  only  rejects  all  recognized 
civilization,  but  destroys  and  disorganizes.  Facundo, 
who  does  not  govern,  because  any  government  implies 
labor  for  others'  good,  gives  himself  up  to  the  instincts 
of  an  immoderate  and  unscrupulous  avarice.  Selfish- 
ness  is  the  foundation  of  almost  all  the  great  characters 
of  history;  selfishness  is  the  chief  spring  of  all  great 
deeds.  Quiroga  had  this  political  gift  in  an  eminent 
degree  and  made  everything  around  him  contribute  to 
his  advantage;  wealth,  power,  authority,  all  centred  iri 
him  ;  whatever  he  could  not  acquire,  —  polish,  learn- 
ing, true  respectability,  —  he  hated  and  persecuted  in 
all  those  who  possessed  them. 

costs  six,  and  is  of  bad  quality;  and  to  the  state  at  three  reals  without 
raising  the  current  price  of  the  article. 

4.  That  his  cattle  are  to  be  slaughtered  gratis,  from  the  18th  of  the  pres- 
ent  month  to  the  10th  of  January  inclusive,  and  to  have  pasture  at  the  pub- 
lic expense  for  two  reals  a  month  for  every  head  he  shall  provide  from  the 
1st  of  October  next.  Ruiz.  —  VICENTO  ATIEKZO. 

Official  Register  of  the  Province,  of  San  Juan. 

SAN  JUAN,  September  13,  1833.  » 


^  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

ility  to  the  respectable  classes  and  to  the 
jilt  of  the  cities  was  every  day  more  percepti- 
.nd  the  governor  of  La  Rioja,  whom  he  had  him- 
>i  appointed,  finally  was  forced,  by  daily  annoyances, 
to  resign  his  place.  One  day,  Quiroga,  feeling  in- 
clined to  pleasantry,  was  amusing  himself  with  a  young 
man  as  a  cat  sports  with  a  frightened  mouse ;  he  liked 
to  play  at  killing ;  the  terror  of  the  victim  was  so 
ludicrous,  tfilit  the  executioner  was  highly  diverted,  and 
laughed  immoderately,  contrary  to  his  habit.  He  must 
have  sympathy  in  his  mirth,  and  he  at  once  ordered 
the  general l  to  be  beat  throughout  the  city  of  Rioja, 
which  called  out  the  citizens  under  arms.  Facundo, 
who  had  given  -the  summons  for  diversion's  sake,  drew 
up  the  inhabitants  in  the  principal  square  at  eleven 
o'clock,  at  night,  dismissed  the  populace  and  retained 
only  the  well-to-do  householders  and  the  young  men 
who  still  had  some  appearance  of  culture.  All  night 
he  kept  them  marching  and  countermarching,  halting, 
forming  line,  marching  by  front  or  by  flank.  It  was 
like  a  drill-sergeant  teaching  recruits,  and  the  sergeant's 
stick  travelled  over  the  heads  of  the  stupid,  and  the 
chests  of  those  who  were  out  of  line  ;  "  What  would 
you  have  ?  this  is  the  way  to  teach  !  "  Morning  came, 
and  the  pallor,  weariness,  and  exhaustion  of  the  re- 
cruits showed  what  a  night  they  had  passed.  Their 
instructor  finally  sent  them  to  rest,  and  extended  his 
generosity  to  the  purchase  and  distribution  of  pastry, 
each  recipient  made  in  haste  to  eat  his  share,  for  that 
was  part  of  the  sport. 

Lessons  of  such  a  kind  are  not  lost  upon  cities,  and 

1 A  certain  call  to  arms. 


MINING  FEVER.  107 

the  skillful  politician  who  has  raised  similar  proceedings 
to  a  system  in  Buenos  Ayres,  has  refined  upon  them 
and  made  them  wonderfully  effective.  For  example  : 
during  the  periods  between  1835  and  1840  almost  the 
whole  population  of  Buenos  Ayres  has  passed  through 
the  prisons.  Sometimes  a  hundred  and  fifty  citizens 
would  be  imprisoned  for  two  or  three  months,  to  be 
then  replaced  by  two  hundred  who  would  be  kept,  per- 
haps half  the  year.  Wherefore?  What  "had  they 
done  ?  What  had  they  said  ?  Idiots  !  Do  you  not 
see  that  this  is  good  discipline  for  the  city  ?  Do  you 
not  remember  the  saying  of  Rosas  to  Quiroga,  that  no 
republic  could  be  established  because  the  people  were 
not  prepared  for  it !  .This  is  his  way  of  teaching  the 
city  how  to  obey ;  he  will  finish  his  work,  and  in  1844, 
he  will  be  able  to  show  the  world  a  people  with  but 
one  thought,  one  opinion,  one  voice,  and  thafa  bound- 
less enthusiasm  for  the  person  and  will  of  Rosas !  Then, 
indeed,  they  will  be  ready  for  a  republic ! 

But  we  will  return  to  La  Rioja.  A  feverish  ex- 
citement on  the  subject  of  investments  in  the  mines  of 
the  new  States  of  Spanish  America  had  arisen  in  Eng- 
land ;  powerful  companies  were  proposing  to  draw 
profit  from  those  of  Mexico  and  Peru ;  and  Rivadavia, 
who  was  then  residing  in  London,  urged  speculators 
to  invest  their  capital  in  the  Argentine  Republic.  The 
mines  of  Famatina  offered  an  opening  for  a  great  enter- 
prise. At  the  same  time,  speculators  from  Buenos 
Ayres  obtained  the  exclusive  right  to  work  these  mines, 
meaning  to  sell  it  for  ah  enormous  sum  to  the  English 
companies.  These  two  speculations,  one  started  in 
England  and  the  other  in  Buenos  Ayres,  conflicted 


108  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC- 

with  each  other,  and  were  irreconcilable.  Finally,  a 
bargain  was  made  with  another  English  house,  which 
was  to  supply  funds,  and  in  fact,  sent  out  English  super- 
intendents and  miners.  Later,  a  speculation  was  got 
up  to  establish  a  bank  at  La  Rioja,  which  was  to  be 
sold  at  a  high  price  to  the  national  government  when 
it  should  be  organized.  On  being  solicited,  Facundo 
took  a  large  number  of  shares,  making  payment  with 
tile  Jesuits'  College,  which  had  been  assigned  to  him, 
on  his  demand,  in  payment  of  his  salary  as  general.  A 
party  of  Buenos  Ayres  stockholders  came  to  La  Rioja 
to  carry  out  the  project,  and  soon  asked  to  be  presented 
to  Quiroga,  whose  name  had  begun  to  exercise  every- 
where a  mysterious  and  terrific  power.  Facundo 
received  them  in  his  lodgings,  in  very  fine  silk  stock- 
ings, ill-made  pantaloons,  and  a  common  linen  poncho. 
The  grotesque  appearance  of  this  figure  was  not  pro- 
vocative of  any  smiles  from  the  elegant  citizens  of 
Buenos  Ayres.  They  were  too  sagacious  not  to  read 
the  riddle.  The  man  before  them  meant  to  humiliate 
his  polished  guests,  and  show  them  what  account  he 
made  of  their  European  dresses. 

'  The  administrative  system  established  in  his  province 
Wa's  finally  completed  by  exorbitant  duties  on  the  ex- 
portation of  cattle  which  did  not  belong  to  him.  But 
in  addition  to  these  direct  methods  of  acquiring  wealth, 
he  had  one  which  embraced  his  whole  public  career,  — 
•gambling  !  He  had  a  rage  for  play  as  some  men  have 
for  strong  drink,  and  others  for  tobacco.  His  mind, 
though  a  powerful  one,  had  not  the  capacity  of  embra- 
cing a  large  sphere  of  ideas,  and  stood  in  need  of  this 
factitious  occupation,  in  which  a  passion  of  the  soul  is 


GAMBLING.  109 

in  constant  exercise,  as  it  is  crossed,  appeased,  pro- 
voked, excited,  and  kept  upon  the  rack.  I  have  always 
thought  that  the  passion  for  gambling  was  some  useful 
faculty  that  organized  society  has  perverted  or  left  in 
inaction.  The  will,  self-control,  and  steadfastness  which 
it  requires,  are  the  same  which  advance  the  fortunes-  krf. 
the  enterprising  merchant,  the  banker,  and  the  con- 
queror who  plays  for  empires  with  battles.  Facundo '" 
had  habitually  gambled  since  his  childhood  ;  play  had 
been  the  only  pleasure,  the  only  relaxation  of  his  life. 
But  what  an  agreeable  partner  he  must  be  who  con- 
trols the  terrors  and  the  lives  of  the  whole  party  !  'Kb 
one  can  conceive  such  a  state  of  things  without  having 
had  it  before  his  eyes  for  twenty  years.  Facundo 
played  unfairly,  say  his  enemies.  I  do  riot  believe  the 
charge,  for  cheating  at  play  was  unnecessary  in  his 
case,  and  he  had  been  known  to  pursue  to  the  death, 
others  who  were  guilty  of  it.  But  he  played  with  un- 
limited means  ;  he  never  let  any  one  carry  from  the 
table  the  money  he  used  for  stakes  ;  the  game  could 
not  be  stopped  till  he  chose  ;  he  would  play  forty  hours 
or  more  at  a.  time  ;  he  feared  no  one,  and  if*  his  fellow 
gamblers  annoyed  him,  he  could  have  them  whipped 
or  shot  at  pleasure.  This  was  the  secret  of  his  good 
luck.  Few  men  ever  won  much  money  from  him,  al- 
though, at  some  periods  of  the  game,  heaps  of  coin 
lost  by  him  lay  upon  the  table  ;  the  game  would  go  on," 
for  the  winner  did  not  dare  to  rise,  and  in  the  end  he 
would  have  nothing  but  the  glory  of  reckoning  that  his 
winnings,  afterwards  lost,  had  once  been  so  large. 

Gambling,  then,  was  to  Quiroga  a  system  of  plunder  \ 
as  well  as  a  favorite  amusement.     No  one  in  La  Rioja 


110  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

received  money  from  him,  no  one  possessed  any,  with- 
out being  at  once  invited  to  a  game,  or,  in  other  words, 
to  leave  his  funds  in  the  chieftain's  hands.  Most  of  the 
tradesmen  of  La  Rioja  failed  and  vanished,  their  money 
having  taken  up  its  quarters  in  the  general's  purse  ; 
and  it  was  not  for  want  of  lessons  in  prudence  from 
him.  A  young  man  had  won  four  thousand  dollars 
from  Facundo,  and  Facundo  declined  to  play  longer. 
His  opponent  thought  that  a  snare  was  in  readiness 
for  him,  and  that  his  life  was  in  danger.  Facundo 
repeated  that  he  had  finished  playing ;  the  stupid  fel- 
low insisted  on  another  game,  and  Facundo,  complying 
with  the  demand,  won  the  four  thousand  dollars  from 
the  other,  who  then  received  two  hundred  lashes  for 
his  uncivil  pertinacity. 

I  am  weary  of  reading  the  accounts  of  infamous  acts 
in  which  all  the  manuscripts  I  am  consulting  agree. 
I .  suppress  them  out  of  respect  to  my  vanity  as  an 
author,  and  to  the  literary  pretensions  of  my  work. 
By  saying  more  I  should  make  my  pictures  appear  too 
highly  colored,  coarse,  and  repulsive. 

This  terminates  one  period  of  the  life  of  the  country 
commandant  after  he  had  abolished  and  suppressed  the 
city.  Hitherto  Facundo  was  what  Rosas  was  in  his 
own  domain,  although  not  so  far  degraded  before  reach- 
ing power,  either  by  gambling  or  by  the  brutal  gratifi-  - 
Nation  of  various  passions.  But  he  is  to  enter  upon  a 
new  sphere,  and  we  are  soon  to  follow  him  over  the 
whole  Republic  and  seek  him  on  battle  fields. 

What  consequences  to  La  Rioja  were  occasioned  by 
the  destruction  of  all  civil  order?  Reasonings  and 
discussions  are  here  out  of  place.  A  visit  to  the  scene 


CONSEQUENCES  OF  FACUNDO'S  GOVERNMENT.   Ill 

of  these  occurrences  will  be  sufficient  to  answer  the 
query.  The  Llanos  of  La  Rioja  are  now  deserted  ; 
their  population  has  emigrated  to  San  Juan  ;  the  cis- 
terns are  dry  which  once  gave  drink  to  thousands  of 
flocks.  Those  Llanos  which  fed  those  flocks  twenty 
years  ago,  are  now  the  home  of  the  tiger  who  has  re- 
conquered his  former  empire,  and  of  a  few  families  of 
beggars  who  live  upon  the  fruit  of  the  carob-tree.  This 
is  the  retribution  the  Llanos  have  suffered  for  the  evils 
which  they  let  loose  upon  the  Republic.  "  Woe  to  ye, 
Bethsaida  and  Chorazin  !  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  that 
the  lot  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  was  more  tolerable 
than  that  which  was  reserved  for  you !  " 


CHAPTER  VII. 

SOCIAL    LIFE. 

11  Society  in  the  Middle  Ages  was  composed  of  the  wrecks  of  a  thousand  other 
societies.  All  the  forms  of  liberty  and  servitude  were  found  in  it  ;  the  monarchical 
liberty  of  the  king,  the  individual  liberty  of  the  priest,  the  privileged  liberty  of  kings, 
the  representative  liberty  of  the  nation,  Roman  slavery,  barbarian  serfage,  and  the 
servitude  of  escheatage  (aubane)."  —  Chateaubriand. 


is  now  in  possession  of  La  Rioja,  its  um- 
pire and  absolute  master  ;  no  other  voice  is  heard 
there,  no  other  interest  than  his  exists  there.  As  there 
is  no  literature,  there  are  no  opposing  opinions.  La 
.Rioja  is  a  military  machine  which  will  move  as  it  is 
moved.  Thus  far,  however,  Facundo  has  done  noth- 
ing new  ;"Dr.  Francia,  Ibarra,  Lopez,  and  Bustos,  had 
done  the  same  ;  and  Guemes  and  Araos  had  attempted 
it  in  the  North  ;  that  is,  to  destroy  all  existing  rights 
for  the  purpose  of  strengthening  their  own.  But  be- 
yond La  Rioja  lay  an  agitated  world  of  ideas  and  of 
contradictory  interests,  whence  came  to  Quiroga's  resi- 
dence in  the  Llanos  the  distant  sounds  of  the  contro- 
versies of  the  press  and  of  political  parties.  Again 
his  rise  to  p®wer  was  necessarily  attended  by  the  spread 
of  the  clamor  resulting  from  his-overthrow  of  the  edi- 
fice of  civilization,  and  by  his  becoming  an  object  of 
attention  to  the  neighboring  commonwealths.  His 
name  had  passed  the  frontiers  of  La  Rioja  ;  Rivadavia 
was  inviting  him  to  assist  in  the  organization  of  the 
Republic  ;  Bustos  and  Lopez  wished  him  to  oppose  it  ; 


TRANSITION  PERIOD.  113 

the  government  of  San  Juan  complacently  reckoned 
him  among  its  friends,  and  strangers  came  to  the  Llanos 
to  pay  him  their  respects  and  to  ask  support  in  behalf 
of  one  party  or  another. 

At  that  time  the  Argentine  Republic  presented  an 
animated  and  interesting  picture.  All  interests,  all 
ideas,  all  passions,  met  together  to  create  agitation  and 
tumult.  Here,  was  a  chief  who  would  have  nought 
to  do  with  the  rest  of  the  Republic  ;  there,  a  commu- 
nity whose  only  desire  was  to  emerge  from  its  isolation  ; 
yonder,  a  government  engaged  in  bringing  Europe  over 
to  America ;  elsewhere,  another  to  which  the  very  name 
of  civilization  was  odious  ;  the  Holy  Tribunal  of  the' 
Inquisition  was  reviving  in  some  places ;  in  others,  lib- 
erty of  conscience  was  proclaimed  the  first  of  humdii 
rights ;  the  cry  of  one  party  was  for  confederation ;  of 
others  for  a  central  government ;  while  each  different 
combination  was  backed  by  strong  and  unconquerable 
passions.  I  must  clear  up  the  chaos  a  little,  to  show 
the  role  which  it  fell  to  Quiroga  to  enact,  and  the 
great  work  he  was  to  bring  to  pass.  In  order  to  de- 
pict the  provincial  commandant  who  took  possession  of 
the  city  and  annulled  its  constitution,  I  have  found  it 
necessary  to  describe  the  face  of  nature  in  the  Argen- 
tine Republic,  with  the  habits  induced  and  the  forms 
of  character  developed  by  it.  And  to  describe  Quiroga 
extending  his  power  beyond  his  own  province  and  pro- 
claiming a  principle,  an  idea,  and  carrying  it  every- 
where at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  I  must  likewise 
sketch  the  geographical  distributions  of  the  ideas  and 
interests  which  were  agitated  in  the  cities.  With  this 
object,  it  is  requisite  for  me  to  examine  two  cities  un- 


'  114  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

der  the  sway  of  opposite  ideas.  These  cities  are  Cor- 
dova and  Buenos  Ayres,  as  they  existed  in  1825,  and 
previously. 

CORDOVA. 

Cordova,  though  somewhat  in  the  grave  old  Spanish 
style,  is  the  most  charming  city  in  South  America  in 
its  first  aspect.  It  is  situated  in  a  hollow  formed  in  an 
elevated  region  called  the  Altos.  So  closely  are  its 

/symmetrical  buildings  crowded  together  for  want  of 
space,  that  it  may  be  said  to  be  folded  back  upon  itself^ 
The  sky  is  remarkably  clear,  the  winter  season  dry  and 
bracing,  the  summers  hot  and  stormy.  Towards  the 
east  it  has  a  promenade  of  singular  beauty,  the  capri- 
cious outlines  of  which  strike  the  eye  with  magical 
effect.  It  consists  of  a  square  pond  surrounded  by^a 
very  broad  walk,  shaded  by  ancient  willow-trees  of 
colossal  size.  Each  side  is  of  the  length  of  a  cuadra,1 
and  the  inclosure  is  of  wrought  iron  grating,  with^ 
enormous  doors  in  the  centre  of  each  of  the  four  sides, 
so  that  the  promenade  is  an  enchanted  prison,  within 
which  its  inmates  circulate  around  a  beautiful  temple 
of  Greek  architecture.  In  the  chief  square  stands  the 

'  magnificent  cathedral,  of  Gothic  construction,  with  its 
immense  dome  carved  in  arabesques,  the  only  model 
of  mediaeval  architecture,  so  far  as  I  know,  existing  in 
South  America.  Another  square  is  occupied  by  the 
church  and  convent  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  in  the 
presbytery  of  which  is  a  trap-door  communicating  with 
excavations  which  extend  to  some  distance  below  the 

i  Eighty-five  yards  in  Montevideo,  one  hundred  and  twenty-seven  in 
>Buenos  Avres. 


CORDOVA. 

city,  which  are  at  present  but  imperfectly  explore- 
dungeons  have  also  been  discovered  where  the  Socie  -j 
buried  its  criminals  alive.     If  any  one  wishes  to  be- 
come acquainted  with  monuments  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
and  to  examine  into  the  power  and  the  constitution  of 
that  celebrated  religious  order  above  referred  to,  Cor- 
dova is   the  place  where  one   of  its  greatest   central 
establishments  was  situated. 

In  every  square  of  that  compact  city  stands  a  superb 
convent,  a  monastery,  or  a  house  for  unprofessional 
nuns,  or  for  the  performance  of  specific  religious  exer- 
cises. In  former  times  every  family  included  a  priest, 
a  monk,  a  nun,  or  a  chorister  ;  the  poorer  classes  con- 
tenting themselves  with  having  among  them  a  hermit, 
a  lay  brother,  a  sacristan,  or  an  acolyte. 

Each  convent  or  monastery  possessed  a  set  of  ad- 
joining out-buildings,  where  lived  and  multiplied  eight 
hundred  slaves  of  the  Order,  negroes,  zamboes,  mulat- 
toes,  and  quadroons,  with  blue  eyes,  fair  and  waving 
hair,  limbs  as  polished  as  marble,  genuine  Circassians 
'  adorned  with  every  grace,  but  showing  their  African 
origin  by  their  teeth,  serving  for  bait  to  the  passions 
of  man,  all  for  the  greater  honor  and  profit  of  the  con- 
vent to  which  these  houris  belonged.1 

.  Here  is  also  the  celebrated  University  of  Cordova, 
founded  as  long  ago  as  the  year  1613,  and  in  whose 
gloomy  cloisters  eight  generations  of  medicine  and 
divinity,  both  branches  of  law,  illustrious  writers, 
commentators,  and  scholars  have  passed  their  youth. 
Let  us  hear  the  description  given  by  the  celebrated 
Dean  Funes  of  the  course  of  instruction  and  the  spirit 

1  A  similar  order  of  things  exists  to  this  day  in  the  city  of  Havana. 


LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

'this  famous  university,  which  has  for  tw6  centuries 
provided  a  great  part  of  South  America  with  theologians 
and  doctors.  "  The  course  of  theology  lasted  for  five 
years  and  a  half.  Theology  had  come  to  share  in  the  * 
corruption  of  philosophy.  The  Aristotelian  philosophy 
applied  to  theology  had  resulted  in  a  mixture  of  the 
profane  with  the  spiritual.  Mere  human  reasonings, 
deceptive  subtleties  and  sophisms,  frivolous  and  mis- 
placed inquiries — such  were  the  conditions  under  which*  * 
the  ruling  taste  of  these  schools  had  been  formed." 
If  you  would  look  a  little  deeper  into  the  spirit  of  lib- 
erty likely  to  be  the  result  of  such  teaching,  listen  a 
little  longer  to  Dean  Funes  :  "  This  university  wa,£ 
".originated  and  established  wholly  by  Jesuits,  who 
founded  it  in  their  college  of  the  city  of  Cordova, 
called  Maximo."  Very  distinguished  advocates  have  k 
proceeded  from  this  institution,  but  no  man  of  letters- 
who  has  not  also  been  educated  at  Buenos  Ayres  with 
modern  books. 

This  learned  city  has  never  yet  had  a  public  theatre, 
nor  become  acquainted  with  the  opera.  It  is  still  with- 
out journals,  and  typography  is  a  branch  of  industry 
which  has  failed  to  take  root  in  it.  The  spirit  of  Cor- 
dova up  to  1829  was  monastic  and  scholastic ;  the  con- 
versation of  its  society  always  turned  on  processions, 
the  saints'  days,  university  examinations,  taking  the 
vail,  and  reception  of  the  doctor's  "  tassels." 

How  far  these  circumstances  tended  to  influence  the 
temper  of  a  population  occupied  with  such  ideas  for 
two  centuries,  cannot  be  determined  ;  but  some  influ- 
ence they  must  have  had,  as  is  plain  at  a  glance.  The 
inhabitant  of  Cordova  does  not  look  beyond  his  own 


CORDOVA.  117  ' 

horizon  ;  that  horizon  is  four  blocks  distant  from  his 
own.  When  he  takes  his  afternoon  stroll,  instead  of 
going  and  returning  thpough  a  spacious  avenue  of 
poplars  as  long  as  the  Paseo  of  Santiago,  which  expands 
and  animates  the  mind,  he  follows  an  artificial  lake  of 
motionless  and  lifeless  water,  in  the  centre  of  which 
stands  a  structure  of  magnificent  proportions,  immov- 
able and  stationary.  The  city  is  a  cloister  surrounded  v 
by  ravines;  the  promenade  is  a  cloister  with  iron  grates ; 
every  square  of  houses  has  a  cloister  of  nuns  or  friars  } 
the  colleges  are  cloisters;  the  jurisprudence  taught 
there,  the  theology,  all  the  mediseval  scholastic  learn-v 
ing  of  the  place,  is  a  mental  cloister  within  which 
the  intellect  is  walled  up  and  fortified  against  every 
departure  from  text  and  commentary.  Cordova  knows 
not  that  aught  besides  Cordova  exists  on  earth  ;  it  has, 
indeed,  heard  that  there  is  such  a  place  as  Buenos 
Ayres,  but  if  it  believes  this,  which  it  does  not  always, 
it  asks :  "  Has  it  a  university  ?  but  it  must  be  an 
affair  of  yesterday.  How  many  convents  has  it  ?  Has 
it  such  a  promenade  as  this  ?  If  not,  it  amounts  to 
nothing." 

"  Whose  work  on  jurisprudence  do  you  study  ? " 
inquired  the  grave  Doctor  Gijena,  of  a  young  man  from 
Buenos  Ayres. 

"  Bentham's." 

"  Whose,  sir,  do  you  say  ?  Little  Bentham's  ?  "  1  in- 
dicating with  his  finger  the  size  of  the  duodecimo  in 
which  Bentham's  work  is  published.  ..."  That 
wretched  little  Bentham's  !  There  is  more  sense  in 
one  of  my  writings  than  in  all  those  wind-bags.  What 
a  university,  and  what  contemptible  doctors  !  " 

1  Benthancito,  the  termination  expressing  derision. 


118  LIFE  IN   THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

"  And  you,"  said  the  other,  "  whose  book  do  you 
study?  What!" 

"  Cardinal  Lucques." 

"  What  say  you,  sir  ?  seventeen  folio  volumes  ?  " 

It  is  a  fact  that  as  a  traveller  approaches  Cordova, 
he  looks  along  the  horizon  without  discovering  the 
sanctimonious  and  mysterious  city,  the  city  which 
wears  the  doctor's  cap  and  tassels.  At  last  his  guide 
says,  "  Look  there,  it  is  down  there  among  the  bushes." 
And  in  reality,  as  he  fixes  his  gaze  upon  the  ground 
at  a  short  distance  in  advance,  there  appear  one,  two, 
three,  ten  crosses,  followed  by  domes  and  towers,  be- 
longing to  the  many  churches  which  adorn  this  Pom- 
peii of 'mediaeval  Spain. 

\  To  conclude,  the  mechanics  shared  the  spirit  of  the 
upper  classes  :  a  master-shoemaker  put  on  the  airs  of 
a  doctor  in  shoemaking,  and  would  level  a  Latin  apho- 
rism at  a  man  as  he  gravely  took  his  measure ;  the  ergo 
of  the  scholar  might  be  heard  in  the  kitchens,  and 
every  dispute  between  a  couple  of  porters  took  the 
sound  and  shape  of  philosophical  demonstrations.  We 
may  add,  that  throughout  the  revolution,  Cordova  was 
the  asylum  of  all  fugitive  Spaniards.  What  impression 
would  the  revolution  of  1810  be  likely  to  make  upon  a, 
population  educated  by  Jesuits,  and  secluded  thus  by 
nature,  by  teaching,  and  by  art  ? 

Had  revolutionary  ideas,  such  as  are  found  in  Rous- 
seau, Mably,  and  Voltaire,  happened  to  spread  over  the 
pampas  and  descend  into  this  Spanish  catacomb,  —  if 
we  may  so  speak,  —  what  response  would  they  have 
been  likely  to  find  from  those  brains  disciplined  by  the 
Aristotelian  system  to  reject  all  new  ideas,  those 


CORDOVA.     '  119 

intellects  which,  like  their  own  promenade,  had  an  im- 
movable idea  in  their  centre,  unapproachaWe  through 
a  stagnant  lake  ? 

Toward  1816  the  illustrious  and  liberal  Dean  Funes 
succeeded  in  introducing  into  the  ancient  university  of 
the  city  the  studies  previously  so  much  contemned : 
mathematics,    living   languages,    public    law,   physics, 
drawing,  and  music.     From   that  time   the  youth  of 
Cordova  began  to  direct  their  ideas  into  new  channels 
which,  ere  long,  led  them  to  consequences  of  which'' 
we  will  speak  hereafter.     At  present,  I  am  describing^*- 
the  old   traditional  spirit  of  the  place,  which  was  thfe 
dominant  one. 

The  Revolution  of  1810  found  the  ears  of  Cordova' 
closed  to  it  at  the  very  time  when  all  the  provinces  ^ 
were  at  once  responding  to  the  cry  of  "To  arms-! 
Liberty  !  "  It  was  in  Cordova  that  Liniers  began  to 
raise  armies  to  put  down  the  revolution  in  Buenos  Ayrjes. 
It  was  to  Cordova  that  the  Junta  sent  one  of  its  mem- 
bers and  its  troops  to  decapitate  Spain.  It  was  Cor- 
dova, which,  offended  by  this  outrage,  and  looking  for 
vengeance  and  reparation,  wrote,  with  the  learned 
hand  of  the  University,  and  in  the  idiom  of  the 
breviary  and  the  commentators,  that  celebrated  acros- 
tic l  which  pointed  out  to  those  who  passed  the  spot  the 
tomb  of  the  first  royalists  who  were  sacrificed  upon  the 
altars  of  the  state. 

In  1820,  a  force  stationed  in  Arequete  revolted,  and 
General  Bustos,  its  leader,  abandoning  the  banners  of 

i  C      L      A      M      0      R 

§      2.     &      1      I      Z 

M  I  I 


120  LIFE  IN   THE   ARGENTINE   REPUBLIC. 

his  country,  established  himself  quietly   at  Cordova, 
which  congratulated  itself  for  having  thus  robbed  the 
nation  of  one  of  its  armies.     Bustos  created  an  irre- 
sponsible colonial   government,  introduced  court  eti-^ 
quette    and    the  perennial  torpor  of  Spain,   and  thus 
prepared,  Cordova  entered  upon  the  year  1828,  when 
the  question  before  the  country  was  the  organization 
of  the  Republic  and  the  establishment  of  the  revolu-  / 
tionary  system  with  all  its  consequences.1 

1  On  going  over  the  pages  of  this  first  historical  essay,  the  author  regrets 
certain  defects  which  cannot  be  expunged  without  recasting  the  whole 
work,  for  it  would  thus  be  impossible  to  preserve  the  thread  of  the  ideas. 
The  heat  of  the  early  years  of  exile,  the  impossibility  of  verifying  details 
in  such  circumstances,  and  the  prejudices  of  party  feeling,  have  left  some 
indelible  traces.  The  description  of  Cordova  is  stained  with  this  capital 
vice,  and  the  author  would  willingly  expunge  it,  if  it  did  not  contain  a 
certain  malicious  exaggeration  which  make  striking  the  contrast  of  the 
modern  spirit  which  characterized  Buenos  Ayres  in  1825. 

But  the  author  owes  to  the  friendly  frankness  of  Dr.  Alsina,  corrections 
upon  this  and  several  other  points,  which  as  a  point  of  honor  as  well  as 
an  excuse,  he  submits  to  the  examination  of  the  reader,  thus  making  every 
possible  reparation  for  error  without  destroying  the  spirit  of  the  original 
text. 

"  I  seem  to  see,"  he  says  in  these  notes,  "  a  capital  defect  in  this  book, 
that  of  exaggeration,  independent  of  a  certain  vivacity,  if  not  in  the  ideas, 
in  their  allocution.  If  you  do  not  propose  to  write  a  romance  or  an  epic, 
but  a  veritable  history,  political,  social,  and  military,  your  rule  must  be  not 
to  depart  from  rigid  historical  exactness,  and  exaggeration  is  inconsistent 
with  this.  You  show  &  penchant  for  systems,  and  in  social  science,  systems 
do  not  constitute  the  best  means  of  arriving  at  the  truth.  When  the  mind 
is  occupied  with  a  previous  idea,  and  proposes  to  make  that  triumph  in  its 
demonstration  of  it,  it  exposes  itself  to  original  errors  without  being 
aware  of  it.  Then  instead  of  proceeding  analytically,  instead  of  examin- 
ing each  fact  in  itself,  to  see  what  can  be  deduced  from  it,  and  from  these 
collected  deductions  and  observations,  to  bring  out  a  general  deduction  or 
result,  instead  of  proceeding  thus,  a  writer  uses  synthesis,  that  is  to  say,  he 
poses  a  certain  leading  idea,  reviews  whatever  facts  present  themselves,  not 
to  examine  them  philosophically  and  in  detail,  but  to  make  them  prove  his 
favorite  idea,  and  to  construct  by  their  means  the  edifice  of  his  sj'stem. 
The  natural  result  of  this  is,  that  when  he  meets  with  a  fact  which  sup- 
portg  his  idea,  he  exaggerates  and  amplifies  it,  and  when  he  finds  another 


BUENOS  AYRES.  121 


BUENOS  AYRES. 

Let  us  now  turn  our  attention  to  Buenos  Ayres.    Its 
first  struggle  was  with  the  aborigines  by  whom  it  was  / 

which  does  not  square  well  with  his  system,  or  which  contradicts  it,  he 
presents  only  one  aspect  of  it,  disfigures  it,  or  interprets  it  in  his  own 
way;  hence  forced  analogies  and  applications,  inexact  or  partial  judgments 
of  men  or  events,  and  the  generalizations  with  which  a  writer  deduces  a 
rule  or  a  doctrine  from  an  individual,  and  often  accidental  fact,  perhaps 
insignificant  in  itself.  All  this  is  a  necessity  of  systems.  It  is  necessary 
to  sacrifice  a  great  deal  to  them.  You  propose  to  show  the  active  strug- 
gle between  civilization  and  barbarism,  a  struggle  where  germs  began 
to  move  toward  development  long  years  ago,  and  which  during  years 
blindly  excited  the  struggle  between  country  and  city,  in  which  by  a 
necessary  law  and  almost  by  fatality,  the  latter  triumphed,  and  ought  to 
have  triumphed.  I  think  there  may  be  truth  at  the  bottom  of  this  idea, 
although  it  has  not  any  in  my  humble  opinion. 

"  You  treat  with  undeserved  harshness  that  poor  city  of  Cordora.  You 
do  not  cite  facts  that  justify  your  general  assertion,  made  so  strongly  and 
severely.  To  recall  the  crime  of  Bustos  in  1820  would  be  inopportune, 
that  crime  proves  something  else,  but  not  that.  That  Leniers  and  other 
distinguished  men,  almost  all  Spaniards,  acted  like  Spaniards  in  1810, 
is  not  astonishing,  and  their  rencontre  at  Cordova  should  not  be  imputed 
to  a  love  of  royalty  in  the  people  any  more  than  the  appearance  of  that 
kind  of  acrostic  which  you  copy,  and  which  might  have  been  the  work  of 
an  individual,  should  be  imputed  to  the  same  thing.  These  proofs  go  out 
of  the  limits  of  the  circumspection  of  history  to  justify  an  accusation  so 
positive  and  so  general.  There  were  families  of  the  Spanish  party  there  as 
in  all  the  provinces,  without  excluding  that  of  Buenos  Ayres,  and  this  was 
natural.  After  it  was  delivered  from  Liniers  and  his  associates,  what  fact 
reveals  the  opposition  or  dissent  of  Cordova  to  the  revolution?  What 
does  Cordova  do  less  than  any  other  of  the  provinces  where  the  Spanish 
armies  did  not  go?  What  more  have  the  others  done  than  Cordova?  It 
received  with  decision  the  first  patriotic  army,  and  contributed  what  it 
could  to  it.  From  1810  it  furnished  many  soldiers;  from  1810  it  furnished 
many  men  and  young  men  who  became  excellent  officers;  it  gave  Valey, 
who  died  gloriously  at  Desaguadero;  also  Leeva,  Bustos,  Julian,  and  Jos£ 
Maria  Paz,  J.  G.  Echevarria,  who  died  for  liberty  in  1831,  as  you  say  further 
on ;  it  gave  my  client  Colonel  Rojas,  who  made  his  debut  at  Dehesa,  and 
others  whose  names  I  do  not  now  remember.  Cordova  sent  its  deputies  to 
the  first  Junta,  and  has  since  sent  them  to  all  the  national  bodies.  In 
what  other  way  would  you  have  a  province  take  part  in  the  revolution  ? 
In  what  manner  have  others  taken  part  in  it? 

14  ALSINA." 


122  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

swept  from  the  face  of  the  earth.  It  recovered  itself 
more  than  once,  until  in  1620  it  figured  in  the  Spanish 
dominions  sufficiently  to  be  erected  into  a  district 
governed  by  a  Captain-general,  and  to  be  separated 
from  Paraguay,  under  whose  government  it  had  pre- 
viously existed.  In  1777,  Buenos  Ayres  had  already  . 
become  very  conspicuous,  so  much  so,  indeed,  that  it 
was  "necessary  to  remould  the  administrative  geogra- 
phy of  the  colonies,  and  to  make  Buenos  Ayres  the  • 
chief  section.  A  viceroyal  government  was  express- 
ly created  for  it. 

In  1800,  the  attention  of  English  speculators  was 
turned  to  South  America,  and  especially  attracted  to 
Buenos  Ayres  by  its  river,  and  its  probable  future.  In 
1810,  Buenos  Ayres  was  filled  with  partisans  of  the  i 
revolution,  bitterly  hostile  to  anything  originating  in 
Spain  or  any  part  of  Europe.  A  germ  of  progress,  then, 
was  still  alive  west  of  the  La  Plata.  The  Spanish  colo- 
nies cared  nothing  for  commerce  or  navigation.  The 
'Rio  de  la  Plata  was  of  small  importance  to  them.  The 
Spanish  disdained  it  and  its  banks.  As  time  went  on, 
the  river  proved  to  have  deposited  its  sediment  of  wealth 
upon  those  banks,  but  very  little  of  Spanish  spirit  or 
Spanish  modes  of  government.  Commercial  activity 
had  brought  thither  the  spirit  and  the  general  ideas  of 
Europe  ;  the  vessels  which  frequented  the  waters  of  the 
port  brought  books  from  all  quarters,  and  news  of  all 
the  political  events  of  the  world.  It  is  to  be  observed 
that  Spain  had  no  other  commercial  city  upon  the 
Atlantic  coast.  The  war  with  England  hastened  the 
emancipation  of  men's  minds  and  awakened  among  them 
a  sense  of  their  own  importance  as  a  state.  Buenos 


BUENOS   AYRES.  123 

Ayres  was  like  a  child,  which,  having  conquered  a  giant,/ 
fondly  deems  itself  a  hero,  and  is  ready  to  undertake 
greater  adventures.    The  Social  Contract  flew  from  hand  x 
to  hand.    Mably  and  Raynal  were   the  oracles  of  theT 
press  ;  Robespierre  and  the  Convention  the  approved 
models.     Buenos  Ayres  thought  itself  a  continuation  of< 
Europe,  and  if  it  did  not  frankly  confess  that  its  spirit 
and  tendencies  were  French  and  North  American,  it  " 
denied  its  Spanish  origin  on  the  ground  that  the  Span- 
ish Government  had  patronized  it  only  after  it  was  full 
grown.     The  revolution  brought  with   it  armies  and 
glory,  triumphs  and  reverses,  revolts  and  seditions.    But   • 
Buenos  Ayres,  amidst  all  these  fluctuations,  displayed 
the  revolutionary  energy  with  which  it  is  endowed.  Bo- 
livar was  everything  ;  Venezuela  was  but  the  pedestal 
for  that  colossal  figure.     Buenos  Ayres  was  a  whole 
city  of  revolutionists  —  Belgrano,  Rondeau,  San  Martin, 
Alvear ;  and  the  hundred  generals  in  command  of  its 
armies  were  its  instruments  ;  its  arms,  not  its  head  nor 
its  trunk.    It  cannot  be  said  in  the  Argentine  Republic 
that  such  a  general  was  the  liberator  of  the  country  ; 
but  only  that  the  Assembly,  Directory,  Congress,  or 
government  of  such  or  such  a  period,  sent  a  given  gen- 
eral to  do  this  thing  or  that.     Communication  with  all 
the,  European  nations  was  ever,  even  from  the  outset, 
more  complete  here  than  in  any  other  part  of  Spanish 
America  ;  and  now,  in  ten  years'  time  (but  only,  be  it 
understood,  in  Buenos  Ayres),  there  comes  to  pass  ^ 
radical  replacement  of  the  Spanish  by  the  European 
spirit.     We  have  only  to  take  a  list  of  the  residents  in 
and  about  Buenos  Ayres  to  see  how  many  natives  of* 
the  country  bear  English,  French,  German,  or  Italian 


124  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

surnames.  The  organization  of  society,  in  accordance 
with  the  new  ideas  with  which  it  was  impregnated, 
began  in  1820  ;  and  the  movement  continued  until 
Rivadavia  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  government. 
Hitherto  Rodriguez  and  Las  Heras  had  been  laying 
the  usual  foundations  of  free  governments.  Amnesty 
laws,  individual  security,  respect  for  property,  the  re- 
sponsibility of  civil  authority,  equilibrium  of  powers, 
public  education,  everything,  in  fine,  was  in  peaceful 
course  of  establishment  when  Rivadavia  came  from 
Europe,  brought  Europe  as  it  were,  but  Europe  was 
yet  undervalued.  Buenos  Ayres  — and  that  means,  of 
course,  the  Argentine  Republic  —  was  to  realize  what 
republican  France  could  not  realize,  what  the  English 
aristocracy  did  not  even  wish  for,  what  despotic  Europe  • 
wanted  still  less.  This  was  not  an  illusion  of  Riva- 
davia's ;  it  was  the  general  thought  of  the  city,  its 
spirit,  and  its  tendency. 

Parties  were  divided,  not  by  ideas  essentially  opposed 
to  each  other,  but  by  the  greater  or  less  extent  of  their 
aims.  And  how  else  could  it  have  been  with  a  people 
which  in  only  fourteen  years  had  given  England  a 
lesson,  overrun  half  the  continent,  equipped  ten  armies, 
fought  a  hundred  pitched  battles,  been  everywhere 
victorious,  taken  part  in  all  events,  set  at  nought  all 
traditions,  tested  all  theories,  ventured  upon  everything 
and  succeeded  in  everything  ;  which  was  still  vigorous, 
growing  rich,  progressing  in  civilization  ?  What  was 
to  ensue,  when  the  basis  of  government,  the  political 
creeds  received  from  Europe,  were  vitiated  by  errors, 
absurd  and  deceptive  theories,  and  unsound  principles  ? 
for  the  native  politicians  who  were  as  yet  without  any 


BUENOS  AYRES.  125 

definite  knowledge  of  political  organization,  could  not 
be  expected  to  know  more  than  the  great  men  of  l 
Europe.  I  desire  to  call  attention  to  the  significance 
of  this  fact.  The  study  of  constitutions,  races,  and  ' 
creeds,  in  short,  history,  has  now  diffused  a  certain 
amount  of  practical  knowledge  which  warns  us  against 
the  glitter  of  theories  based  upon  a  priori  conceptions  ;  - 
but  previous  to  1820,  nothing  of  that  had  transpired  in 
jthe  European  world.  France  was  roused  into  insur- 
rection by  the  paradoxes  of  the  Social  Contract ;  Buenos 
Ayres  was  similarly  roused ;  Montesquieu  designated 
three  powers,  and  immediately  we  had  three  ;  Benja- 
min Constant  and  Bentham  annulled  power ;  here  they 
declared  it  originally  null;  Say  and  Smith  preached 
free-trade  ;  "  commercial  liberty,"  we  repeated  ; 
Buenos  Ayres  confessed  and  believed  all  that  the 
learned  world  of  Europe  believed  and  confessed.  Not 
till  after  the  revolution  of  1830  in  France,  and  its  in- 
complete results,  did  the  Social  Sciences  take  a  new 
direction  and  illusions  begin  to  be  dispelled.  From 
that  time  European  books  began  to  come  to  us,  which 
demonstrated  that  Voltaire  had  not  much  reason,  and 
that  Rousseau  was  a  sophist,  and  Mably  and  Raynal 
anarchists  ;  that  there  were  no  three  powers,  nor  any 
Social  Contract,  etc.  From  that  time  we  learned  some- 
•  thing  of  races,  of  tendencies,  of  national  habits,  of  his-  N 
torical  antecedents.  Tocqueville  revealed  to  us  for  the 
first  time  the  secret  of  North  America ;  Sismondi  laid 
bare  the  emptiness  of  constitutions ;  Thierry,  Michelet, 
and  Guizot,  gave  us  the  spirit  of  history ;  the  revolu- 
tion of  1830,  all  the  hollowness  of  the  constitutionalism 
of  Benjamin  Constant ;  the  Spanish  revolution,  all  that 


126  LfFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

'  5s  incomplete  and  behindhand  in  our  own  race.  Of 
what  then  were  Rivadavia  and  Buenos  Ayres  accused  ? 
Of  not  knowing  more  than  the  European  savans  who 
were  their  guides  ?  On  the  other  side,  how  was  it 
possible  not  to  embrace  with  ardor  the  general  ideas  of 
a  people  who  had  contributed  so  much  and  so  well  to 
make  the  revolution  general  ?  How  bridle  the  imagina- 
tions of  the  inhabitants  of  an  illimitable  plain  bordered 
by  a  river  whose  opposite  bank  could  not  be  seen  —  a 
step  from  Europe,  not  knowing  even  its  own  traditions, 
, '  indeed  without  having  them  in  reality ;  a  new,  sud- 
denly improvised  people,  which  from  the  very^  cradle 
.  had  heard  itself  called  great  ? 

Thus  elevated,  and  hitherto  flattered  by  fortune, 
Buenos  Ayres  set  about  making  a  constitution  for 
itself  and  the  Republic,  just  as  it  had  undertaken  to  ," 
liberate  itself  and  all  South  America :  that  is,  eagerly, 
uncompromisingly,  and  without  regard  to  obstacles. 
Rivadavia  was  the  personification  of  this  poetical,  Uto- 
pian spirit  which  prevailed.  He  therefore  continued 
the  work  of  Las  Heras  upon  the  large  scale  necessary 
•  for  a  great  American  State  —  a  republic.  He  brought 
over  from  Europe  men  of  learning  for  the  press  and  for 
the  professor's  chair,  colonies  for  the  deserts,  ships  for 
the  rivers,  freedom  for  all  creeds,  credit  and  the  nation- 
p\  bank  to  encourage  trade,  and  all  the  great  social 
theories  of  the  day  for  the  formation  of  his  government. 
^In  a  word,  he  brought  a  second  Europe,  which  was  to 
be  established  in  America,  and  to  accomplish  in  ten 
years  what  elsewhere  had  required  centuries.  Nor  was 
this  project  altogether  chimerical;  all  his  administrative 
creations  still  exist,  except  those  which  the  barbarism  of  ~ 


BUENOS  AYRES.  127 

Rosas  found  in  its  way.  Freedom  of  conscience^advo 
cated  by  the  chief  clergy  of  Buenos  Ayres,  has  not  been 
repressed;  the  European  population  is  scattered  ori- 
farms  throughout  the  country,  and  takes  arms  of  its 
own  accord  to  resist  the  only  obstacle  in  the  way  of  the 
wealth  offered  by  the  soil.  The  rivers  only  need  to  be 
freed  from  governmental  restrictions  to  become  naviga- 
ble, and  the  national  bank,  then  firmly  established,  has 
saved  the  people  from  the  poverty  to  which  the  tyrant 
would  have  brought  them.  And,  above  all,  however 
fanciful  and  impracticable  that  great  system  of  govern- 
ment may  have  been,  it  was  at  least  easy  and  endura- 
ble .for  the  people  ;  and,  notwithstanding  the  assertions 
of  misinformed  men,  Rivadavia  never  shed  a  drop  of 
blood,  nor  destroyed  the  property  of  any  one  ;  but  * 
voluntarily  descended  from  the  Presidency  to  poverty 
and  exile.  Rosas,  by  whom  he  was  so  calumniated; 
might  easily  have  been  drowned  in  the  blood  of  his 
own  victims  ;  and  the  forty  millions  of  dollars  from  the 
national  treasury,  with  the  fifty  millions  from  private 
fortunes  which  were  consumed  in  ten  years  of  tfie  long- 
war  provoked  by  his  brutalities,  would  have  been  em- 
ployed by  the  "fool  —  the  dreamer  —  Rivadavia,"  iij 
building  canals,  cities,  and  useful  public  buildings. 
•Then  let  this  man,  who  died  for  his  country,  have  the 
glory  of  representing  the  highest  aspirations  of  Euro- 
pean civilization,  and  leave  to  his  adversaries  that  of 
displaying  South  American  barbarism  in  its  most  odious 
light.  For  Rosas  and  Rivadavia  are  the  two  extremes 

O  -____-,_ . — —  . -•  • 

of  the  Argentine  Republic,  connecting  it  with  savages 
through   the  pampas,  and  with  Europe   through   the  f 
River  La  Plata.  •*   *    • 


128  LIFE  IN   THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

y 

I  am  not  making  the  eulogy,  but  the  apotheosis  of 
Rivadavia  and  his  party,  which  has  ceased  to  exist  as 
a  pohtical  element  of  the  Argentine  Republic,  though 
Rosas  persists  in  calling  his  present  enemies  "  Unita- 
rios"  The  old  union  party,  like  that  of  the  Giron- 
dists, disbanded  many  years  ago  ;  but  with  all  its  im- 
possibilities and  fanciful  illusions  it  had  much  that  was 
noble  and  great  to  which  the  succeeding  generation 
should  do  justice.  Many  "of  those  4nen  are  still  among 
1  us,  though  no  longer  as  an  organized  party  ;  they  are 
;  the  remains  of  the  Argentine  Republic,  as  noble  and 
as  venerable  as  those  of  Napoleon's  empire.  These 
Unitarips  of  th^year  1825  form  a  distinct  class  of 
-men,  recognized  by  their  manners,  tone  of  voice,  and 
opinions.  A  Unitario  would  be  known  among  a  thou- 
sand by  his  stately  bearing,  his  somewhat  haughty 
manner  of  speaking,  and  his  positive  gestures  ;  on  the 
eve  of  a  battle  he  will  pause  to  discuss  a  question  logi- 
cally, or  to  establish  some  new  legal  formality  ;  for 
legal  formulas  are  the  outward  worship  which  he  offers 
to  his  idols — the  Constitution  and  individual  rights. 
•  His  religion  is  the  future  of  the  Republic,  whose  image, 
sublime  and  colossal,  is  ever  before  him,  covered  with 
the  mantleiof  its  past  glory.  Never  was  there  a  genera- 
tion so  enterprising,  so  gifted  with  reasoning  and  de- 
ductive powers,  and  so  wanting  in  practical  common 
sense.  A  Unitario  will  not  believe  in  the  evident 
success  of  his  enemies.  He  has  such  faith  in  the  great- 
ness of  his  cause,  that  neither  exile,  nor  poverty,  nor 
lapse  of  years  can  weaken  his  enthusiasm  ;  and  in 
calmness  of  mind  and  in  energy  of  soul  he  is  infinitely 
superior  to  the  present  generation.  These  men  also 


THE    TWO    PARTIES.  129 

excel  us  in  ceremonious  politeness  and  refinement  of 
manner ;  for  conventionalities  are  more  and  more  'dis-  . 
regarded  among  us  as  democracy  progresses,  and  it  'is- 
now  difficult  to  realize  the  culture  and  refinement  of 
society  in  Buenos  Ayres  before  1828.    Europeans  who 
went  there  found  themselves,  as  it  were,,still  in  Europe, 
in  the  saloons  of  Paris  ;  nothing  was  wanting,  not  even  * 
the  insolence  of  the  Parisian  tlegant,  which  was  wefr 
imitated  by  the  same  class  of  young  men  in  Btoenos 
Ayres. 

I  have  been  particular  in  mentioning  these  little 
things  in  order  to  give  an  idea  of  the  period  when  the 
Republic  was  in  the  process  of  formation,  and  of  its 
different  elements  struggling  for  precedence.  On  one  • 
side  Cordova,  Spanish  in  education,  in  literature,  and 
'  in  religion,  conservative  and  strongly  opposed  to  all 
innovations  ;  and  on  the  other,  Buenos  Ayres,  revolu- 
tionary by  nature,  ready  for  any  change  and  progress. 

These  were  the  types  of  the  two  parties  that  divided 
every  city  ;  and  I  doubt  if  there  is  another  such  phe- 
nomenon in  America  ;  that  is,  two  parties*,  conserva- 
tive and  revolutionary,  retrograde  and  progressive, 
each  represented  by  a  city  having  its  own  peculiar 
form  of  civilization,  and  receiving  opinions  from  entirely 
different  sources :  Cordova,  from  Spain,  the  Councils, 
the  Commentators,  the  Digest ;  Buenos  Ayres,  from 
Bentham,  Rousseau,  Montesquieu,  and  French  litera- 
ture in  general. 

-To  these  elements  of  antagonism  must  be  added 
another  not  less  important,  namely,  the  want  of  any 
national  bond  after  the  provinces  became  independent' 
of  Spain.  When  government  authority  is  removech 


130  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC, 

i  • 

from  one  centre  to  another,  time  is  necessary  for  its 
firm  establishment. 

The  "  Republican  "  recently  declared  that  "  govern- 
ment is  no  more  than  a  compact  between  the  governors  -- 
and  the  governed."     Evidently  there  are  still  many 
Unitarios  among  us  !   Government  is  in  reality  founded 
upon,  the  unpremeditated  consent  which  a  nation  gives  to 
a  permanent  fact.     Where  there  is  deliberation,  there 
is  no  authority.     This  transition  state  is  calledji_cpn- 
fedefatkm.      Out  of  each  revolution  and  consequent- 
change  of  government,  different  nations  derive   their  * 
ideas  and  modes  of  confederation. 

I  will  explain  myself.  When  Ferdinand  VII.  was 
driven  from  Spain,  government  —  that  permanent  fact 
—  ceased  to  exist ;  and  Spain  was  formed  into  provin- 
cial assemblies  which  denied  the  authority  of  those  who 
governed  in  the  name  of  the  king.  This  was  the 
Spanish  Confederation.  When  the  news  reached*" 
America,  the  South  American  provinces  revolted  from 
Spain,  and  being  divided  into  sections,  formed  the 
South  American  Confederation.  From  Buenos  Ayres 
came  at  the  end  of  the  contest,  four  states,  —  Bolivia, 
Paraguay,  Banda  Oriental,  and  the  Argentine  Repub-  t 
lie.;  these  formed  the  Confederation  of  the  Viceroy  ally. 
Finally,  the  Argentine  Republic  was  divided,  not  as 
formerly  into  districts,  but  according  to  its  cities,  and 
so  became  a  confederation  of  cities. 
,  It  is  not  that  the  word  confederation  signifies  sepa- 
ration, but  that  when  separation  has  already  taken 
place,  it  expresses  the  union  of  the  different  parts.  The 
Argentine  Republic  was  at  this  crisis  social,  and  many 
persons  of  note  in  the  cities  believed  that,  for  mere 


CONSOLIDATION  INEVITABLE.  131 

convenience,  or  whenever  an  individual  or  a  commu- 
nity felt  no  respect  for  the  nominal  government,  a  new 
confederation  might  be  formed.  Here  then  was  another 
apple  of  discord  in  the  Republic,  and  the  two  parties, 
after  having  been  called  "  Royalists  "  and  "  Patriots," 
"  Congresistas  "  and  "  Kxecutivistas,"  "T^onseTva:- 
tives,"  and  "Liberals,"  now  bore  the  names  of  "  Fed- 
s  erales  "  and  "  Unitarios." 1  Perhaps,  to  finish  the  list, 
I  should  give  the  name  bestowed  upon  the  latter  party 
by  Don  Juan  Manuel  Rosas,  that  is,  "  salvajes  inmundos 
Ifnitarios" 

But  the  Argentine  Republic  is  so  situated  geograph- 
ically, that  it  is  destined  to  a  consolidation,  whatever 
Rosas  may  say  to  the  contrary.  Its  continuous  plain, 
its  rivers  confined  to  one  outlet,  and  therefore  to  one 
port,  force  it  inevitably  to  be  "one. and  indivisible" 
Rivadavia,  who  well  understood  the  necessities  of  the 
country,  advised  the  provinces  to  unite  under  a  common 
constitution,  and  to  make  a  national  port  of  Buenos 
Ayres.  Aguero,  his  supporter  in  Congress,  said  to  tjie 
citizens  of  Buenos  Ayres,  "  Let  us  voluntarily  -give  to 
the  provinces  what,  sooner  or  later,  they  will  claim  by 
force."  The  prophecy  failed  in  one  respect ;  the  prov- 
inces did  not  claim  the  port  of  Buenos  Ayres  by  force 
of  arms,  but  by  force  of  the  barbarism  which  they  sent 
upon  her  in  Facundo  and  Rosas.  Buenos  Ayres  feels 
all  the  effects  of  the  barbarism,  while  the  port  has  been 
of  no  use  to  the  provinces. 

I  have  been  obliged  to  explain  all  these  antecedents 

r  1  Federahs,  those  who  held  to  a  confederation  of  the  old  provinces,  or  a. 
union  of  states.  Unitarios,  those  who  advocated  a  consolidated  central 
government. 


132          LIFE/IN  THE 'ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

in  order  to  continue  the  life  of  Juan  Facundo  Quiroga ; 

for,  though  it  seems  ridiculous  to  say  it,  Facundo  was* 

the  riv~al  of  Rivadavia.    Everything  disconnected  with 

these  men  was  of  little  importance,  and  left  no  imptres- 

•^          sion.     There  were  in  the  Republic  two  parties :    one 

in  Buenos  Ayres,  supported  by  the  "Liberals  in   the 

provinces ;  the  other  originating  in  the  provinces  an& 

supported  by  the  provincial  commanders  who  had  ob-, 

tained  possession  of  cities.     One  of  these  powers  .was 

<     civilized,  constitutional,  European  ;   the  other  barba£ 

-.,  rous,  arbitrary,  South  American. 

,  These  two  parties  had  reached  their  full  develop- 
ment, and  only  needed  a  word  to  begin  the  contest  ;^ 
,  one,  as   the   revolutionary  party,  was   already  called 
a  Unj|ftario,"  the  opposite  party  assumed  the  name  of 
"  FedeTalT' "without  well  understanding  it. 

But  that  barbarian   party  or  power  was  scattered 

X^\       throughout  the  Republic,  in  the  provinces,  and  in  the 

Indian  territories,  and  a  strong  arm  was  needed  to 

establish  it  firmly  in  a  compact  form,  and    Quiroga 

offered  his  for  the  work. 

Though  the  Argentine  gaucho  has  some  qualities 
common  to  all  shepherds,  he  has  strong  local  attach- 
ments.  Whether  he  belongs  in  Buenos  Ayres,  Santa 
FC*,  Cordova,  or  the  Llanos,  all  his  aspirations  are  con- 
fined to  his  own  province  ;  and  he  is  an  enemy  or  a 
I  stranger  to  all  the  others.  These  provinces  are  like 
different  tribes  ready  to  make  war  upon  one  another. 
Lopez,  as  governor  of  Santa  Fe",  cared  nothing  for  what 
\  was  passing  around  him,  except  occasionally  when 
obliged  to  drive  out  troublesome  intruders  from  his 
territory.  But  as  these  provinces  had  points  of 


FACUNDO'S  INDIVIDUALITY.^  133 

tact,  nothing  could  prevent  them  from  finally  joining 
in  A  common  interest,  thus  bringing  about  that  consol- 
idation which  they  had  so  struggled  against.  "^  - 

As  I  have  already  said,  Quiroga's  wandering  lifk  in 
youth  gave  rise  to  his  future  ambition  ;  for,  though  a 
gaucho,  he  was  troubled  with  no  local  attachment.  He 
was 'born  in  Rioja,  but  educated  in  San  Juan,  and  lived 
afterwards  both  in  Mendoza  and  Buenos  Ayresr  He1 
was  acquainted  with  the  whole  Republic,  and  his  ajn- 
bition  had  no  narrow  limits.  Master  of  Rioja,  he  f 
delighted  to  present  himsslf  clothed  with  authority  in 
that  town,  where  he  had  learned  to  read ;  in  another 
city,  which  was  the  scene  of  his  boyish  escapadas  ;  and, 
in  another  still,  where  he  had  distinguished  himself  by 
his  prison  exploit.  If  it  was  for  his  interest  to  leave  a 
province,  he  was  not  detained  by  his  affections ;  and, ' 
unlike  Lopez  or  Ibarra,  who  only  cared  to  defend  their 
own  possessions,  he  was  fond  of  attacking  his  neighbor's 
territory  and  taking  it  into  his  own  hands. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

EXPERIMENTS. 

How  long  are  the  days  now  ?  for  to-morrow  I  wish  to  gallop  ten  leagues  over  a 
field  sown  with  corpses.  —  SkaJcespeare. 

THE  political  condition  of  the  Republic  was  such  as 
we  have  described  in  1825,  when  the  governor  of  Bue- 
nos Ayres1  invited  the  provinces  to  unite  in  a  congress 
and  assume  the  form  of  a  general  government.  This 
idea  was  everywhere  favorably  received,  either  because 
every  military  commander  expected  to  be  made  gover- 
nor of  his  own  province,  or  because  the  glory  of  Bue- 
A  nos  Ayres  dazzled  all  eyes.  The  governor  of  Buenos 
Ayres  has  been  blamed  for  proposing  this  question,  the 
-solution  of  which  was  to  be  so  unfortunate  for  himself 
^and  for  the  civilization  of  the  country. 

Facundo,  in  behalf  of  La  Rioja,  eagerly  accepted 
the,  invitation,  perhaps  on  account  of  the  sympathy 
which  all  highly  gifted  minds  have  for  good  plans  I 

In  1825  the  Republic  prepared  for  the  Brazilian 
war  by  calling  upon  each  province  to  raise  a  regiment 
fpr  the  army.  Colonel  Madrid  went  to  Tucuman  for 
this  purpose,  and  im^tfent  to  obtain  the  reluctant 
recruits  and  other  necessaries  for  his  company,  did  not 
hesitate  to  set  aside  the  slow  authorities  and  to  take 
things  into  his  own  hands  in  order  to  expedite  the 
1  Rivadavia. 


COLONEL  MADRID.  135 

necessary  decrees.  This  act  of  subversion  placed  the 
governor  of  Buenos  Ayres  in  a  very  delicate  position  ; 
for  there  was  already  some  distrust  among  the  govern- 
ments, arising  from  provincial  jealousies,  and  the  com- 
ing of  Colonel  Madrid  from  Buenos  Ayres,  and  his 
interference  with  provincial  authorities,  were  regarded 
as  acts  instigated  by  the  governor  himself. 

To  remove  this  suspicion,  Facundo  was  sent  to  Tu- 
cuman  for  the  purpose  of  reestablishing  the  local 
authorities.  Madrid  explained  to  the  governor  the 
real  motive  —  certainly  a  very  insufficient  one  —  whicji 
had  actuated  him,  and  professed  sincere  devotion  to^ 
the  cause.  But  it  was  too  late,  Facundo  was  already 
on  his  way,  and  he  could  only  prepare  to  resist  him., 
Madrid  had  at  his  disposal  a  company  which  was  pass- 
ing through  Salta  ;  but  not  wishing  to  aggravate  the 
charges  already  made  against  him,  contented  himself 
with  fifty  guns  and  as  many  swords;  enough,  as  he 
thought,  to  meet  the  invading  force. 

This  Colonel  Madrid  belonged  to  a  class  t>f  men 
essentially  Argentine  by  birth  and  spirit.  At  the  age 
of  fourteen  he  began  to  fight  the  Spaniards,  and  the 
stories  of  his  romantic  valor  are  numerous  and  often 
.incredible.  He  was  said  to  have  been  in  a  hundred 
and  fifty  encounters,  his  sword  always  bearing  marks 
of  much  service  ;  the  very  smell  of  powder  and  neigh- 
ing of  the  horses  so  excited  him,  that  cavalry,  artillery, 
infantry,  everything  that  came  in  his  way,  fell  before 
his  mad  energy.  Besides  his  love  of  fighting,  he  had 
the  gift  of  the  Argentine  cantor,  and  animated  his 
soldiers  with  war-songs,  such  as  have  already  been 
described.  Unfortunately,  he  was  not  a  well-balanced 


136      LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

general,  such  as  Napoleon  liked  ;  his  bravery  predom- 
inated over  the  other  qualities  desirable  in  a  general  in 
the  proportion  of  a  hundred  to  one,  —  a  fact  well 
proved  by  the  event  at  Tucuman.  Though  able  to  call 
in  a  sufficient  force,  he  persisted  in  giving  battle  with 
only  a  handful  of  men,  accompanied  by  Colonel  Dias- 
velez,  who  was  not  less  brave  than  himself.  Facundo 
had  with  him  two  hundred  of  infantry  and  his  own 
Red  Cavalry ;  Madrid  had  fifty-foot  soldiers  and  a  few 
squadrons  of  militia.  At  the  beginning  of  the  contest, 
Facundo  and  his  cavalry  were  routed,  and  he  himself 
did  not  return  to  the  field  of  battle  until  all  was  over. 
Meanwhile  the  body  of  infantry  stood  firm  ;  Madrid 
ordered  his  men  to  charge  upon  them,  but  not  being 
obeyed,  he  actually  rushed  upon  them  alone.  He  was 
thrown  from  his  horse,  but,  recovering  himself,  charged 
about  him,  slaying  on  the  right,  on  the  left,  and  before 
him,  until  horse  and  horseman  fell  pierced  with  balls 
and  bayonets,  and  victory  was  decided  in  favor  of  the 
infantry. 

Facundo  now  came  back  to  recover  his  black  flag 
which  had  been  lost,  and  found  his  victory  gained,  and 
Madrid  dead,  actually  dead.  His  equipments  were 
there,  —  sword,  horse,  and  all,  —  but  his  body  could 
not  be  recognized  among  the  stripped  and  mutilated 
corpses  that  lay  upon  the  field.  Colonel  Diasvelez, 
who  was  a  prisoner,  said  that  his  ally  had  a  bayonet 
wound  in  his  leg,  and  no  body  was  found  with  such  a 
wound. 

Madrid  had  dragged  himself  under  some  bushes 
where  his  aid  found  him  raving  deliriously  about  the 
battle ;  and  at  the  sound  of  approaching  footsteps,  he 


SIGNIFICANCE  OF  THE  COLOR  "RED."  137 

cried,  u  I  do  not  surrender  !  "     Never  until  then  had 
Colonel  Madrid  surrendered. 

This  was  the  famous  fight  at  Tala,  the  first  exploit 
of  Quiroga  beyond  the  limits  of  his  province.  He  had 
conquered  "  the  bravest  of  the  brave,"  and  kept  his 
sword  as  a  trophy  of  the  victory.  Will  he  stop  there  ? 
But  let  us  see  the  force  which  sustained  itself  against 
the  colonel  of  the  13th  regiment,  who  overthrew  a 
government  to  equip  his  company.  Facundo  raised  at 
Tala  a  flag  which  was  not  Argentine,  but  of  his  own'  X 
invention;  namely,  a  black  ground  with  a  skull  and 
cross-bones  in  the  centre.  This  was  the  flag  which  he 
had  lost  early  in  the  engagement,  and  which  he  in- 
tended to  recover,  as  he  said  to  his  routed  soldiers, 
even  at  the  mouth  of  hell.  Terror,  death,  hell,  were 
represented  on  the  banner  and  in  the  proclamations  of 
this  general  of  the  Llanos. 

And  there  was  still  another  revelation  of  the  Arab- 
Tartar  spirit  of  that  power  which  was  to  destroy  the 
cities.  The  Argentine  colors  are  blue  and  white  ;  the 
clear  sky  of  a  fair  day,  and  the  bright  light  of  the  disk 
of  the  sun :  "  peace  and  justice  for  all."  In  our  hatred  of 
tyranny  and  violence,  we  reject  on  our  national  flag  war- 
like devices.  Two  hands,  as  a  sign  of  union,  support 
the  Phrygian  cap  of  Liberty.  "  The  United  Cities  " 
says  this  symbol,  "  will  sustain  their  acquired  liberty." 
The  sun  begins  to  illumine  the  background  of  this 
device,  while  the  darkness  of  night  is  disappearing. 
The  armies  of  the  Republic,  which  were  to  spread  over 
the  whole  country  to  enforce  the  coming  of  that 
promised  light,  wear  a  uniform  of  dark  blue.  But 
now,  in  the  very  heart  of  the  Republic,  the  color  red 


138  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

appears  on  the  national  banners,  in  the  dress  of  the 
soldiers,  and  in  the  cockade  which  every  native  Argen- 
>  tine  must  wear  under  pain  of  death.     Let  us  look  up 
xthe  significance  of  the  color  red.     I  have  before  me  a 
picture  of  all  the  national  flags  of  the  world.     In  civ- 
ilized  Europe  there  is  but  one  in  which  this  color 
prevails,  notwithstanding  the  barbaric  origin  of  its  ban- 
tiers.    The  red  ones  are  :  Algiers,  a  red  flag  with  skull 
f  and  cross-bones  ;   Tunis,  a  red  flag  ;    Mongolia,   the 
same  ;  Turkey,  a  red  flag  with  a  crescent ;  Morocco  ; 
Japan,  red  with  the  exterminating  knife  ;    Siam  has 
the  same. 

I  remember  that  travellers  in  the  interior  of  Africa 
provide  themselves  with  red  cloth  for  the  negro  princes. 
"  The  king  of  Elve,"  say  the  brothers  Lander,  "  wore 
a  Spanish  coat  of  red  cloth  and  pantaloons  of  the  same 
color." 

I  remember  that  the  presents  sent  by  the  govern- 
ment of  Chili  to  the  caciques  of  Aranco,  were  red 
cloaks  and  coats,  because  savages  liked  this  color 
especially. 

The  royal  robes  of  the  barbarian  kings  of  Europe 
were  always  red.  The  royal  edict  of  Genoa  declared 
that  the  senators  must  wear  a  red  toga,  and  especially 
in  pronouncing  judgment  on  criminals,  that  they 
might  inspire  the  prisoners  with  terror. 

Until  within  the  last  century  it  was  the  custom  in 
all  the  countries  of  Europe  for  the  executioner  to  be 
dressed  in  red.     The  armies  of  Rosas  wore  a  red  uni-\ 
form  ;  his  likeness  is  stamped  on  a  red  ribbon. 

What  remarkable  connection  is  there  between  these 
facts  ?  Is  it  chance  that  Algiers,  Tunis,  Japan,  Turkey, 


EFFECTS  OF  FREEDOM  OF  THOUGHT.  139 

Siam,  the  Africans,  the  savages,  the  Roman  Neros,  the 
barbarian  kings,  the  hangmen,  and  Rosas,  should  be 
clothed  in  a  color  now  proscribed  by  Christian  and, 
civilized  communities?     No,  it  is  because prjed_is_the- 
symbol  of  violence,  blood,  and  barbarisjn^-  If  not,  why    ' 
"This  antagonism  ? 

The  Argentine  revolution  of  independence  was  sym- 
bolized by  two  blue  stripes  and  one  white  one  ;  signi- 
fying, justice,  peace,  justice. 

The  amendment  made  by  Facundo  and  approved'tyy 
Rosas,  was  a  red  band,  signifying  terror,  blood,  barba- 
rism. 

In  all  ages  this  significance  has  been  given  to  the 
color  purple  or  red  ;  study  the  history  of  those  nations,, 
who  have  hoisted  this  color,  and  you  will  always' find 
a  Rosas  and  a  Facundo  —  terror,  barbarism,  and  blood 
always  prevailing.  In  Morocco,  the  emperor  has  the 
singular  prerogative  of  killing  criminals  with  his  own 
hand.  Each  phase  of  civilization  is  expressed  in  its 
garments,  and  every  style  of  apparel  is  indicative  of  an 
entire  system  of  ideas.  Why  do  we  wear  beards  at 
the  present  day  ?  Because  of  the  researches  recently 
made  in  medieval  history  ;  the  direction  given  to 
romantic  literature  is  reflected  in  the  fashions  of  the 
day.  And  why  are  these  constantly  changing  ?  Be- 
cause of  the  freedom  of  thought  in  Europe ;  let 
thought  be  stationary,  enslaved,  and  the  costume  will 
remain  unchanged.  Thus  in  Asia,  where  men  live 
under  such  governments  as  that  of  Rosas,  the  same 
style  of  dress  has  been  worn  since  the  time  of  Abra- 
ham. 

And  still  further ;  every  form  of  civilization  has  had 


140  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

its  style  of  apparel,  and  every  revolution  of  institutions 
has  produced  a  change  of  costume.  The  Roman  civil- 
ization had  one  style  of  dress ;  the  Middle  Ages  an- 
other;  the  frock-coat  was  not  worn  in  Europe  until  after 
the  revival  of  letters.  It  is  ever  the  most  civilized  na- 
tion that  imposes  its  fashions  on  the  rest  of  the  world. 
All  Christian  nations  now  wear  the  coat,  and  when  the 
Sultan  of  Turkey,  Abdul-Medjid,  desired  to  introduce 
European  civilization  into  his  dominions,  he  laid  aside  ' 
the  turban  and  caftan  for  the  frock-coat,  pantaloons,  and 
cravat. 

The  Argentine  people  know  the  violent  opposition 
to  civilized  costume  made  by  both  Rosas  and  Facundo. 
One  night,  in  the  year  1840,  a  couple  of  mazorqueros l 
were  dodging  around  the  streets  of  Buenos  Ayres  in 
pursuit  of  a  man  who  wore  a  coat,  and  at  last  he  was 
seized  by  the  throat,  when  he  exclaimed,  "  I  am  Simon 
Pereira  !  "  "  Pardon,  sir,"  said  the  men,  "  but  you 
expose  yourself  by  wearing  this  coat."  "  That  is  just  , 
why  I  wear  it ;  who  else  wears  a  coat  ?  I  do  it  to  be 
known  at^  distance." 

This  Simon  was  the  purveyor  and  agent  of  Rosas. 
But  to  finish  the  illustration  of  the  spirit  of  the  civil 
war  by  its  symbols,  I  must  refer  to  the  history  of  the 
"  red  ribbon  "  of  quite  extensive  notoriety. 

In  1820,  Rosas  appeared  in  Buenos  Ayres  with  his  , 
Colorado^  de  las  Conchas.2  Twenty  years  afterwards, 
he  colored  the  whole  city  with  red  ;  houses,  doors, 
paper-hangings,  tapestry,  etc.  ;  but  finally  he  conse- 
crated the  color  to  official  purposes,  and  made  it  a  test 
of  loyalty  to  the  state. 

1  Mazwqueros,  agents  of  Rosas,  employed  in  cases  of  secret  vengeance. 

2  A  company  of  provincial  militia,  dressed  in  red. 


THE  RED  RIBBON.  143 

The  history  of  the  red  ribbon  is  rather  singular,  /of 
first  it  was  adopted  only  by  party  enthusiasts  ;  then  it 
was  ordered  that  every  one  should  wear  it  as  a  proof  i 
of  unanimity  of  opinion.  If  there  was  no  intentional 
disobedience,  but  in  changing  the  dress  the  badge  was 
forgotten,  the  police  came  to  the  assistance  of  memory. 
Mazorqueros  were  stationed  in  all  the  streets,  and  par- 
ticularly at  the  doors  of  the  churches,  and  when  the 
ladies  came  out,  slashes  with  a  cowhide  were  distrib- 
uted without  mercy.  There  were  yet  stricter  regula- 
tions. If  the  ribbon  was  carelessly  tied :  "  Stripes ! 
the  fellow  must  be  a  Unitario."  If  the  ribbon  was 
too  short :  "  Stripes  for  the  Unitario  !  "  And  if  a 
man  did  not  wear  it  at  all,  he  was  put  to  death  for  con- 
tempt of  the  laws.  The  care  of  the  governor  for  the 
public  education  did  not  stop  here.  It  was  not  enough 
to  be  a  Federal  and  to  wear  the  red  ribbon ;  the 
likeness  of  the  illustrious  Restaurador  must  be  stamped 
upon  it,  with  the  motto,  "  Death  to  the  dirty^  savages, 
Unitarios,"  and  it  must  be  worn  near  the  heart  in  token 
of  deep  love.  It  might  be  thought  that  the  work  of 
debasing  a  cultivated  people  and  destroying  all  per- 
sonal dignity,  was  now  ended.  But  they  were  not  y^t 
sufficiently  disciplined.  One  morning  a  ridiculous 
figure  painted  on  paper,  with  a  streamer  of  red  ribbon 
half  a  yard  long,  appeared  at  the  corner  of  a  street  in 
Buenos  Ayres. .  The  first  person  who  saw  it  rushed 
back,  terrified,  and  gave  the  alarm.  Immediately 
every  one  hurried  to  the  shops  and  soon  appeared 
wearing  half  a  yard  of  ribbon.  A  few  days  after,  a 
slight  alteration  in  the  ribbon  or  the  painted  figure  was 
followed  by  the  same  result.  If  any  ladies  happened 


LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

lts  forget  the  red  knots  prescribed  for  them  instead  of 
the  ribbon,  the  police  would  most  likely  furnish  them, 
one  gratis  —  of  melted  tar !  Thus  was  uniformity  of 


opinion  secured,  and  not  a  person  was  to  be  found  who 
was  not  a  Federal,  or  did  not  imagine  himself  one. 
It  frequently  happened  that  some  one  coming  out  of 
his  house  found  the  end  of  the  street  swept,  and  in  less 
than  a  half  hour  the  whole  street  was  swept,  the  im- 
pression having  become  general  that  there  was  a  police 
order  to  that  effect. 

One  day  a  grocer  put  out  a  small  flag  to  attract 
customers  ;  the  example  was  followed  from  house  to 
house,  from  street  to  street,  until  banners  floated  over 
the  whole  city ;  and  the  officials  thought  that  some 
great  news  had  come,  unknown  to  them.  And  this 
was  the  people  who  once  forced  eleven  thousand  Eng- 
lish to  surrender  in  the  streets,  and  who  afterward  sent 
five  armies  against  the  Spaniards ! 

he  fact  is,  that  terror  is  a  mental  disease  which 
attacks  a  people  like  cholera,  small-pox,  or  scarlet  fever.' 
Every  one  is  liable  to  the  contagion,  and  when  the  in- 
oculation has  been  going  on  for  ten  years,  it  is  doubtful 
if  even  the  vaccinated  escape.  Do  not  laugh  then  at 
the  sight  of  so  much  degradation.  Remember  that  you 
are  Spaniards,  and  that  the  Inquisition  educated  Spain  ! 
We  bear  this  disease  in  our  blood. 

Let  us  now  resume  the  thread  of  our  history.  Fa- 
cundo  entered  Tucuman  in  triumph,  where  he  passed 
several  days  without  committing  any  remarkable  acts 
of  violence,  and  without  imposing  taxes  ;  for  the  con- 
stitutional course  of  Rivadavia  had  given  the  people  an 
amount  of  knowledge  which  could  not  at  once  be  ig- 


^hve 
attac 


{  FACUNDO  AND  THE  FEDERALS.        143 

nored.     Facundo  then  returned  to  Rioja,  inimical  tof 
the   Presidency,  though  not  knowing  what  motive  to^ 
give  for  this  opposition,  for  he  could  not  have  explained 
it  to  himself. 

"  I  am  not  a  Federal,"  he  always  said,  "  I  am  not 
such  a  fool."  "  Do  you  know,"  he  said  once,  to  Don 
Dalmacio  Velez,  "  why  I  went  to  war  ?  For  this," 
showing,  as  he  spoke,  an  ounce  of  gold.  This  was  not 
true. 

At  other  times  he  said,  "  Carril,  governor  of  San 
Juan,  treated  me  very  badly  in  paying  no  attention  to 
my  recommendation  of  Carita,  and  for  this  I  put  my-v 
self  in  opposition  to  the  Congress."  This  also  was 
false.  His  enemies  said,  that  he  owned  many  shares  in 
the  bank,  and  proposed  to  sell  them  to  the  national 
government  for  three  hundred  thousand  dollars.  Riva- 
davia  rejected  this  proposition  as  a  scandalous  theft, 
and  from  that  time  Facundo  enlisted  among  his  ene- 
mies.  This  was  true  as  a  fact,  but  it  was  not  his  motive.' 
It  was  believed  that  he  yielded  to  the  suggestions  of 
Bustos  and  Ibarra  in  joining  the  opposition  party  ;  bu$* 
there  is  a  document  which  proves  the  contrary.  In  a 
letter  which  he  wrote  in  1832  to  General  Madrid,  he 
said,  "  When  I  was  invited  by  those  two  low  fellows, 
Bustos  and  Ibarra,  I  did  not  consider  them  capable  of 
making  a  successful  opposition  to  that  despot,  President 
Don  Bemadino  Rivadavia,  and  refused  to  join  them ; 
but  having  been  informed  by  Colonel  Manuel  del  Cas- 
tillo, aide-de-camp  of  Bustos,  that  you  were  engaged  in 
this  affair,  and  much  interested  in  it,  I  did  not  hesitate 
a  moment  in  deciding  to  join  unconditionally ;  counting 

upon  your  sword  alone  for  success What 

was  my  misfortune,"  etc. 


144  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

So  he  considered  it  a  fool's  part  to  be  a  Federal ! 

.  Was  it  necessary  then  to  be  as  ignorant  as  a  country 
commandant  to  know  what  form  of  government  was 
'most  suitable  for  the  Republic  ?  Was  the  least  edu- 
cated man  most  capable  of  judging  of  difficult  political 
questions  ?  Were  such  thinkers  as  Lopez,  Ibarra,  and 
Facundo,  with  their  great  historical,  social,  geographi- 
cal, philosophical,  and  legal  information  to  solve  the 
problem  of  the  proper  organization  for  a  state  ?  Ah ! 

'   let  us  lay  aside  the  vain  words  that  have  deceived  so  » 
many.     Facundo  turned  against  the  government  by 
which  he  was  sent  to  Tucuman,  for  the  same  reason 
that  he  turned  against  Aldao  who  sent  him  to  Rioja. 
He  found  himself  with  the  power  and  the  will  for  ac-  ^ 
tion  ;    and,   impelled  by  a   blind,   vague  instinct,  he 
obeyed    it.      He   was  commander   of  a  company,    a    , 
g audio-outlaw,  an  enemy  of  civil  justice,  of  civil  order, 
of  educated  men,  of  savans,  of  the  frock-coat,  in  a  word,   * 
of  the  city.     He  was  ordained  for  the  destruction  of  -*•- 
these  by  Providence,  and  must  needs  fulfill  his  mission. 
At  this  time  a  singular  question  arose  to  complicate 
affairs.    In  Buenos  Ay  res,  the  seaport  and  residence  of/ 

/  sixteen  thousand  foreigners,  the  governor  granted  these 
foreigners  liberty  of  conscience  ;  and  the  higher  clergy 
approved  of  and  sustained  this  law.  Convents  of  dif- 
ferent orders  had  been  already  suppressed,  and  the 
priests  provided  for.  In  Buenos  Ayres  this  matter 
gave  no  trouble,  for  all  were  agreed  upon  necessity  ofj 
toleration.  The  question  of  liberty  of  conscience  is  in 
South  America  a  question  of  political  economy,  foiv  it 
implies  European  emigration  and  population.  This  \ 
was  so  fully  recognized  in  Buenos  Ayres  that  even 


'    .  THE  BLACK  FLAG. 

Rosas  did  not  dare  to  revoke  the  law  of  freedom ;  and 
that  thing  must  be  impossible,  indeed,  which  Rosas, 
would  not  attempt. 

r  In  the  provinces,  however,  this  was  a  question*^/ 
/  religion,  of  salvation,  and  of  eternal  damnation.  Imag- 
/  ine  how  it  would  be  considered  in  Cordova !  In  Cor- 
jdova,  an  inquisition  was  established.  In  San  Juan, 
there  was  a  Catholic  insurrection,  so  called  to  distin- 
guish its  party  from  the  Liberalistas,  their  enemies'. 
This  revolution  having  been  suppressed  in  San  Jqan, 
they  found  one  day  that  Facundo  was  at  the  gates 'of 
the  city  with  a  black  flag,  bearing  a  red  cross,  and  the 
device  "  RELIGION  OR  DEATH  !  " 
-  As  the  reader  will  remember,  I  have  quoted  from  a 
manuscript  that  Facundo  never  went  to  confession,  nor 
heard  mass,  nor  prayed,  and  that  he  himself  said  he 
believed  in  nothing.  And  yet  party  spirit  led  a  cele- 
brated preacher  to  call  him  one  sent  by  God,  to  induce 
many  to  follow  his  banner.  When  the  eyes  of  this 
same  priest  were  opened,  and  he  withdrew  from  the 
wicked  crusade  which  he  had  preached,  Facundo  said 
he  was  only  sorry  that  he  did  not  have  him  at  hand  to 

give  him  six  hundred  lashes. 

On  his  arrival  at  San  Juan,  the  chief  men  of  the 
city,  the  magistrates  who  had  not  fled,  and  the  priests 
grateful  for  this  divine  aid,  went  out  to  meet  him, 
forming  two  long  files  in  the  streets.  Facundo  passed 
through  without  looking  at  them.  They  followed  at  a 
distance,  mortified,  and  exchanging  glances  in  their 
common  humiliation,  until  they  reached  a  clover  pas- 
ture, which  this  shepherd-general,  this  modern  hicso, 
chose  for  his  quarters,  and  preferred  to  the  fine  edifices 
10 


.-o  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

.of  the  city.     A  negress,  who  had  nursed  him  in  his 
\~infancy,  came  to  see  her  boy  Facundo.    He  seated  her 
by  his   side   and    conversed    affectionately  with    her, 
while  the  priests  and  dignitaries  of  the  city  stood  un- 
accosted,  the  chief  not  even  deigning  to  dismiss  them. 

The  Catholics  must  have   been  somewhat  doubtful 
•    of  the  importance  and  divinity  of  the  aid  which  came 
to  them   in  such   an  unexpected  form.     A  few  days 
after,  learning  that  the  Cur6  of  the  Conception  was 
in  favor  of  free  worship,  Facundo  caused  him  to  be 
arrested,  thrown  into  prison,  and  sentenced  to  death. 
My  Chilian  readers  must  know  that  there  were  in  San 
Juan  at  this  time,  priests,  cure's,  and  monks,  who  be- 
lieved in  freedom  of  conscience,  and  belonged  to  the , 
party  of  the  President.     Among  others  the  presbyter^ 
Centeno,  well-known  in   Santiago,   together  with    sixi 
others,  was  very  zealous  in  the  ecclesiastical  reform. 
But  something  must  be  done  in  the  cause  of  religion,  to* 
justify  the  device  of  the  flag.     With  this  laudable  aim, 
Facundo  wrote  to  a  priest  of  his  party,  asking  his  ad-** 
vice  about  the  resolution  he  had  formed  to  shoot  all  the 
city  authorities  for  not  having  decreed  the  restitution  -* 
of  the  secular  revenues  of  the  clergy. 

The  good  priest,  who  had  not  foreseen  the  conse- 
quences of  arming  crime  in  the  name  of  God,  felt  some 
scruple  about  such  a  mode  of  reparation,  and  advisecl 
that  the  officials  should  be  commanded  to  make  the 
necessary  decrees. 

Was  there  any  real  question  of  religion  in  the  Argen- 
tine Republic  ?     I  should  deny  it  utterly  if  I  did  not  ( 
know  that  the  more  barbarous  and  irreligious  a  people  , 
is,  the  more  liable  it  is  to  prejudice  and  fanaticism. 


THE  CATHOLIC  PARTY  AND  RELIGION.  147 

But  the  masses  did  not  move  of  their  own  accord, 
and  it  is  plain  that  those  who  adopted  this  device,  Fa-  . 
cundo,  Lopez,  Bustos,  etc.,  were  completely  indiffer-' 
ent.  The  religious  wars  of  the  fifteenth  century  in 
Europe  were  maintained  on  both  sides  by  sincere 
believers,  fanatical  and  devoted  even  to  martyrdom, 
without  political  aims,  and  without  ambition.  The 
Puritans  read  the  Bible  at  the  moment  of  going  into 
battle,  prayed,  and  observed  fasts  and  penances.  Tfie 
spirit  of  a  party  is  evidently  sincere,  when  after  tri- 
umph it  accomplishes  all  and  even  more  than  it  prom- 
ised before  the  contest.  When  this  result  is  wanting, 
there  is  a  deception  in  terms.  When  the  so-called 
Catholic  party  had  triumphed  in  the  Argentine  Repub- 
lic, what  did  it  do  for  religion  or  the  interests  of  the 
priesthood  ? 

As  far  as  I  know,  it  only  drove  out  the  Jesuits,  ' 
beheaded  four  respectable  priests  in  Santos  Lugare's, 
after  having  flayed  their  heads  and  hands,  and  carried 
in  procession  the  host  and  the  portrait  of  Rosas  side  by 
side,  under  a  canopy.  Did  the  Liberal  party  ever  com- 
mit such  horrible  profanations  ? 

But  enough  of  this.     While  at  San  Juan,  Facundo 
occupied  his  time  in  gambling  ;  leaving  to  the  author-  *  • 
ities  the  care  of  providing  him  with  the  sums  necessary 
to  defray  the  expenses  incurred  in  the  defense  of  re- 
ligion.    All  the  time  that  he  remained  there  he  livei 
in  a  tent  on  the  clover  field,  ostentatiously  dressed  fn 
the  chiripd,  an  intentional  insult  to  a  city  where  mast 
of  the  inhabitants  used   English  saddles,  and  wnere  / ' 
the  barbarous  dress  and  habits  of  the  gaucl^os  were 
especially  disliked,  San    Juan   being   an    exclusive!^ 
agricultural  province. 


148  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

One  more  campaign  against  General  Madrid  at 
Tucuman,  completed  the  debut  of  this  new  emir  of 
shepherds.  General  Madrid  had  resumed  the  govern-\ 
ment  of  Tucuman,  sustained  by  the  whole  province, 
and  Facundo  thought  it  .his  duty  to  dislodge  him. 
There  was  a  new  expedition,  a  new  battle,  and  a  new 
victory.  I  omit  the  details  with  the  exception  of  one 
characteristic'  anecdote.  Madrid  had  in  the  battle  of 
Rincon  one  hundred  and  ten  infantry ;  and  when  the 
combat  ended,  there  were  sixty  dead,  while  of  the 
remaining  fifty  all  except  one  were  wounded.  On  the 
following  day  Madrid  declared  himself  again  ready  for 
battle,  but  Quiroga  sent  one  of  his  aides  to  say  that 
the  action  would  begin  by  shooting  the  fifty  prisoners 
already  kneeling  to  receive  their  fate.  Madrid  aban- 
doned all  further  attempt  at  resistance. 

In  these  three  expeditions,  in  which  Facundo  tested 
his  power,  there  was  no  unusual  effusion  of  blood  and 
but  few  outrages.  It  is  true  that  in  Tucuman  he  seized 
upon  some  flocks  and  hides,  and  imposed  heavy  taxes 
upon  them,  but  as  yet  there  was  no  cowhiding  of  the 
citizens,  no  outrages  upon  the  women ;  there  were  the 
evils  of  conquest,  but  none  of  its  horrors.  The  pas- 
toral system  had  not  yet  developed  that  brutality  and 
entire  absence  of  restraint  which  afterwards  character- 
ized it. 

What  part  had  the   legitimate   governor   of  Rioja 
in  these  expeditions  ?     The  government  only  existed     » 
nominally ;   all  the  real  power   was  in  the   hands  of 
the  "Provincial  Commander."     Blanco  resigned  the  .  \ 
office,  overwhelmed  with  humiliations;    and  Aguero    » 
assumed  the  government.     One  day,  however,  Qui- 


AN  EASY  WAY   OF  PAYING  DEBTS.  149 

roga  rode  up  to  his  door  and  said  to  him,  "  Sir,  I 
came  to  inform  you  that  I  have  encamped  with  my 
escort  two  miles  from  here."  It  is  hardly  necessary  to 
say  that  Aguero  resigned.  A  new  governor  was  now 
to  be  chosen,  and  at  the  petition  of  the  people,  Qui- 
roga  condescended  to  nominate  Galvan,  who  accepted  . 
the  office,  but  was  assaulted  the  same  night  by  a  troop 
of  soldiers,  and  fled.  Quiroga  enjoyed  the  adventurfc 
excessively.  It  is  well  to  mention  that  the  assembly 
of  representatives  was  composed  of  men  who  did  not" 
know  how  to  read. 

Facundo  needed  money  for  his  first  expedition  to 
Tucuman,  and  demanded  of  the  treasurer  of  the  bank 
eight  thousand  dollars  on  account  of  his  shares  for 
which  he  had  never  paid.  In  Tucuman,  he  demanded 
twenty-five  thousand  dollars  to  pay  his  soldiers,  who 
received  none  of  it ;  and  some  time  after  sent  a  bill  of 
eighteen  thousand  dollars  to  Dorr  ego  to  pay  the  cost 
of  the  expedition  made  by  order  of  the  governor  of 
Buenos  Ayres.  Dorrego  did  not  hesitate  to  satisfy  so 
just  a  demand.  This  sum  was  shared  with  Moral,  the 
governor  of  Rioja,  who  had  suggested  the  idea.  Six 
years  after,  in  Mendoza,  he  gave  this  same  Moral  seven 
fmndred  lashes  for  his  ingratitude.  While  Blanco 
was  governor,  there  was  a  dispute  about  a  game  of 
/cards,  and  Facundo,  seizing  his  opposer  by  the  hair, 
shook  him  until  his  neck  was  broken.  The  body  was 
buried,  and  the  man  declared  to  have  died  a  natural 
death. 

When  about  to  leave  Tucuman,  he  sent  a  party  of 
soldiers  to  the  house  of  one  Sarate,  who  was  shot  at 
his  own  door  and  left  for  his  widow  to  bury ;  the  victim 


150  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

was  a  man  of  property  and  a  peaceable  citizen,  but 
well  known  for  his  bravery  and  contempt  of  Quiroga. 
On  his  return  from  the  expedition,  Facundo  happened 
to  meet  with  Gutierrez,  ex-governor  of  Catamarca, 
whom  he  persuaded  to  go  and  live  at  Rioja.  There 
they  were  quite  intimate  for  some  time,  but  seeing 
Gutierrez  surrounded  one  day  by  some  gaucho  friends, 
Facundo  had  him  arrested  and  sentenced  to  death,  to 
the  terror  of  all  Rioja,  for  Gutierrez  was  much  re- 
spected, and  had  gained  the  affections  of  every  one. 
The  presbyter,  Dr.  Colina,  and  several  other  clergy- 
men of  high  standing,  petitioned  that  the  miserable  man 
might  at  least  have  time  to  arrange  his  affairs  and  con- 
fess his  sins.  "  I  see,"  answered  Facundo,  "  that  he 
ha^s  many  partisans  here.  Ho!  there!  .Take  these  men 
to  prison  and  let  them  be  shot  instead  of  Gutierrez." 
They  attempted  to  flee,  and  two  escaped;  one  lost  his  life, 
and  the  others  were  imprisoned ;  but  Facundo  laughed 
loudly  when  he  heard  the  adventure,  and  ordered  them 
to  be  set  at  liberty.  Such  scenes  as  this  were  frequent 
between  the  priests  and  their  aid  "  sent  by  God" 

In  San  Juan  he  had  a  negro  dressed  up  as  a  priest, 
and  made  him  walk  through  the  streets.  In  Cordova, 
he  refused  to  receive  any  one  except  Dr.  Castro  Bar- 
ros,  with  whom  he  had  an  account  to  arrange.  In 
Mendoza,  he  walked  to  the  place  of  execution  by  the 
side  of  a  priest  whom  he  had  condemned  to  death ;  he 
did  the  same  with  the  cur6  of  Alguia  and  the  prior  of 
Tucurnan.  It  is  true  that  in  these  cases  he  did  not  go, 
so  far  as  to  have  the  sentence  actually  executed,  bjnt 
it  was  a  great  terror  and  humiliation  to  the  clergy- 
men ;  yet  in  spite  of  all  this,  the  old  people  and  bigots 


. 

RIVADAVIA  RESIGNS. 

still  offered  prayers  to  heaven  for  the  success  of  his 
arms. 

But  the  story  of  Gutierrez  is  not  quite  ended  yet. 
Fifteen  days  later  he  received  a  sentence  of  exile,  and 
an  escort  was  to  conduct  him  beyond  the  boundaries. 
The  party  having  encamped  for  the  night,  a  fire  was 
made  to  cook  supper,  and  while  Gutierrez  was  stooping 
to  blow  the  scarcely  lighted  sticks,  the  chief  official 
struck  him  on  the  head  with  a  staff,  and  blows  from 
others  followed,  until  his  brains  were  literally  knocked  . 
out. 

These  were  some  of  the  events  which  took  place  in 
Facundo's  first  attempt  at  union  in  the  Republic,  for 
these  were  but  attempts ;  the  time  had  not  yet  come 
for  the  alliance  of  the  pastoral  powers  by  which  the 
Republic  was  to  be  reorganized.  Rosas  was  already 
famous  in  the  province  of  Buenos  Ayres,  though  he 
bore  no  titles  as  yet ;  nevertheless  he  was  busy  in  his 
own  cause.  The  constitution  proposed  by  Congress 
was  rejected  wherever  the  provincial  commanders  had 
any  influence.  When  the  government  deputy  pre- 
sented himself  in  Santiago  del  Estero,  in  his  official 
dress,  Ibarra  received  him  in  shirt-sleeves  and  chiripd. 
VRivadavia  resigned  the  presidency  because  the  prov- 
inces were  opposed  to  him,  —  "  but  barbaris.m.-WJll_soon 
be  dowri  ugonjis,"  he  added,  after  his  farewell,  fie  - 
did  well  to  resign.  Rivadavia's  mission  was  to  present 
before  us  the  constitutionalism  of  Benjamin  Constant' 
with  all  its  empty  words,  its  deceptions,  and  absu^jdi* 
ties.  Rjvadavia  did  not  know  that  when  the  civiliza- 
tion and  liberty  of  a  people  are  in  question,  a  ruler  -haj 
great  responsibilities  both  to  God  and  future  genera* 


^52  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

tions  ;  and  that  there  is  neither  charity  nor  compassion 
in  abandoning  a  nation  for  thirty  years  to  the  devasta- 
tion of  the  first  ruthless  sword  that  offers.  Communi- 
ties in  their  infancy  are  like  children  who  foresee 
nothing  and  understand  nothing,  and  need  men  of 
knowledge  and  foresight  to  guide  them. 


CHAPTER  XL 

CIVIL    WAR. TABLADA,   A    CITY. 

There  is  a  fourth  element  coming  ;  they  are  the  barbarians,  new  hordes  who 
come  to  throw  themselves  upon  the  old  society  with  complete  freshness  of  manners, 
soul  and  spirit,  and  who  have  as  yet  done  nothing,  but  are  ready  to  receive  every- 
thing with  the  aptitude  of  the  most  suave  and  naive  ignorance.  —  Cherminier. 

THE  presidency  had  -fallen  amid  the  hissings  and 
rejoicings  of  its  enemies.  Dorrego,  the  able  leader 
of  the  opposition  in  Buenos  Ayres,  was  the  friend  of 
the  governors  of  the  interior,  who  were  his  abettors 
and  supporters  in  the  Provincial  Congress  in  which  he 
was  triumphant.  Victory  was  no  longer  with  the  Re- 
public in  its  foreign  wars  ;  and,  though  its  arms  had 
met  with  no  disasters  in  Brazil,  the  necessity  for  peace 
was  everywhere  felt.  The  opposition  of  the  provincial 
leaders  had  weakened  the  army  by  destroying  regi- 
ments, or  refusing  to  furnish  recruits.  An  apparent 
tranquillity  reigned  in  the  interior,  but  the  earth  trem- 
bled ;  strange  rumors  were  afloat.  The  newspapers 
of  Buenos  Ayres  were  filled  with  gloomy  prophecies. 
Threats  came  alike  from  the  government  and  the  oppo- 
sition. The  administration  of  Dorrego  began  to  show  a 
want  of  strength,  because  the  party  of  the  city,  called 
Federal,  which  had  established  it,  had  not  the  power  to 
sustain  itself  with  honor  after  the  fall  of  the  presidency. 
,  The  new  administration,  far  from  resolving  any  of  the 


154  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

questions  which  divided  the  Republic,  showed,  on  the 
contrary,  all  the  weakness  o£— Federalism.     Dorrego    '' 
was  essentially  Buenos  Ayrean  in  his  sympathies,  and     .t 
had  little  regard  for  the  fate  of  the  provinces.     He  had    , 
promised  the  provincial  leaders  and  communities  to  da* 
all  he  could  to  favor  the  interests  of  the  former  and , 
to  insure  the  rights  of  the  latter ;    but,  having  once 
obtained  the  government,  he  said  to  his  immediate   ' 
friends,  "  What  is  it  to  us  if  the  petty  tyrants  carry  - 
things  with  a  high  hand  ?    What  are  the  four  thousand"" 
dollars'  salary  to  Lopez,  or  the  eighteen  thousand  to 
Quiroga,  to  us  who  control  the  seaport,  and  a  custom- 
house that  brings  us  in  a  million  and  a  half,  which  that 
stupid  Rivadavia  wished  to  convert  into  national  rev- 
enue ?  "  Let  us  not  forget  that  the  motto  of  egotism  is     - 
always  "  Each  for  himself."     Dorrego  and  his  party 
did  not  foresee  that  the  provinces  would  come  some  day 
to  punish  Buenos  Ayres  for  having  refused  them  its 
civilizing  influence  ;  and  that,  because  of  the  indiffer- 
ence to  their  ignorance  and  barbarism,  this  very  igno- 
rance and  barbarism  would  penetrate  into  the  streets  of 
Buenos  Ayres  and  take  up  its  quarters  even  in  the  fort. 
But  Dorrego  might  have  seen  it,  if  he  or  his  party 
had  had  better  eyes.     Here  were  the  provinces  at  the 
gates  of  the  city,  only  waiting  an  occasion  to  invade  it. 
From  the  time  of  the  fall  of  the  presidency  the  de- 
crees of  the   civil  authorities  could   not  be  enforced  - 
beyond   the  suburbs  of  the  city.     Dorrego  had  em- 
ployed, as  an    instrument  of  opposition,  this  outside 
resistance  ;    and,   when  his  party  triumphed,  he  be,- 
stowed  upon  his  ally  beyond  the  walls  the  title  of  corn- 
man  der-in-chief  of  the  provinces.     What  logic  of  the 


DORREGO  AND  THE  UNITARIOS.  155 

sword  is  it  that  makes  the  rank  of  commander-in-chief 
of  the  provinces  a  necessary  step  in  the  elevation  of  a 
military  leader  ?  Where  this  rank  does  not  exist,  as 
was  then  the  case  in  Buenos  Ayres,  it  is  created  ex- 
pressly ;  as  if,  before  letting  the  wolf  into  the  fold, 'it 
was  necessary  to  expose  him  to  general  observation. 

Dorrego  afterward  found  that  the  provincial  com- 
mander, who  had  caused  the  presidency  to  totter,  arid 
had  contributed  so  powerfully  to  overthrow  it,  was  a 
lever  perpetually  applied  to  the  government ;  and  that 
when  Rivadavia  had  fallen,  and  Dorrego  was  in  his 
place,  the  lever  still  continued  its  action.  Dorrego  and 
Rosas  were -face  to  face,  each  watching  and  threatening 
the  other.  Dorrego's  friends  recall  his  favorite  phrase, 
—  "  The  gaucho-rogue  !  Let  him  be  as  troublesome  as 
Jie  -pleases  ;  and  when  he  is  least  expecting  it,  I  will 
shoot  him."  This  was  just  what  the  Ocampos  said 
when  they  first  felt  Quiroga's  heavy  arm  upon  them. 

Indifferent  to  the  people  of  the  interior,  not  in  high 
favor  with  the  Federal  party  of  the  city,  and  already  in 
antagonism  with  the  provincial  power  which  he  had 
called  to  his  aid,  Dorrego,  who  had  obtained  the 
government  through  parliamentary  opposition,  now 
tried  to  win  the  Unitarios,  whom  he  had  conquered ; 
but  parties  have  neither  charity  nor  foresight.  "The 
Unitarios  laughed  in  their  sleeves,  and  said  among 
themselves,  uHe  totters,  let  him  fall."  The  Unitarios 
did  not  understand  that  with  Dorrego  would  fall  those 
who  might  have  interposed  between  them  and  the 
provinces  ;  or  that  the  monster  whom  they  feared  was 
not  seeking  Dorrego,  but  the  city,  the  civil  institutions, 
of  which  they  themselves  were  the  exponents. 


156  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

Things  were  in  this  condition  when  peace  was  con- 
cluded'with  Brazil,  and  the  first  division  of  the  army, 
commanded  by  Lavalle,  was  disbanded.  Dorrego 
;  knew  well  the  spirit  of  these  veterans  of  the  War  of 
Independence,  who,  covered  with  wounds,  and  grown 
gray  in  the  service,  had  obtained  only  the  rank  of 
colonels,  majors,  or  captains  ;  two  or  three,  perhaps, 
becoming  generals  ;  while  in  the  interior  of  the  Re- 
public, without  ever  having  passed  the  frontiers,  were 
dozens  of  leaders,  who,  in  four  years,  had  been  raised 
from  the  rank  of  gaucho-outlaws  to  that  of  command- 
ers ;  from  commanders  to  generals,  and  from  generals 
to  absolute  masters  of  provinces.  Need  we  look  for 
any  other  motive  for  the  implacable  hatred  of  the 
?  veterans  for  these  men  ?  What  had  they  to  anticipate, 
now  that  the  new  order  of  things  had  taken  from  them 
thk  hope  of  entering  the  capital  of  Brazil  as  conquer- 
ors ? 

•  On  the  1st  of  December,  two  companies  of  regulars 
were  drawn  up  in  Victoria  Square.  Governor  Dorrego 
had  fled  to  the  country,  and  the  Unitarios  filled  the  air 
with  shouts  of  triumph.  A  few  days  afterward,  seven 
hundred  cuirassiers,  commanded  by  general  officers, 
went  out  through  Peru  Street  toward  the  pampas  to 
meet  several  thousand  gauchos  and  Indians,  together 
with  a  few  soldiers,  commanded  by  Dorrego.  For  a 
moment  the  field  of  Navarro  was  covered  with  the 
dead,  and  the  following  day  an  officer,  now  in  the 
service  of  Chili,  brought  in  Dorrego  as  prisoner.  An 
hour  later,  the  body  of  Dorrego  lay  pierced  with 
balls.  The  officer  who  had  ordered  his  execution  an- 
nounced it  to  the  city  in  the  following  terms  :  — 


THE  EXECUTION  OF  DORREGO.        157 

"  I  have  the  honor  of  informing  the  deputy-governor  that  Colo- 
nel Manuel  Dorrego  has  just  been  shot  by  my  order,  in  front  of 
the  regiments  which  compose  this  division.  History  will  judge 
impartially  whether  Senor  Dorrego  should  have  lived  or  died  ;  or 
whether  in  sacrificing  him  for  the  peace  of  a  city,  brought  to 
grief  by  him,  I  could  have  had  any  other  motive  than  that  of  the 
public  good.  Let  the  people  of  Buenos  Ayres  be  persuaded  that 
the  death  of  Colonel  Dorrego  is  the  greatest  sacrifice  that  I  could 
make  for  them. 

"  I  salute,  Seiior,  the  minister  with  all  due  consideration. 

"  JUAN  LAVALLE." 

Was  Lavalle  wrong?  It  is  needless  to  add  another 
affirmative  in  support  of  those  who,  after  seeing  the 
consequences,  assumed  the  easy  task  of  criticizing  his 
motives.  If  an  evil  exists,  it  is  in  tilings  not  in  persons. 
When  Cassar  was  assassinated,  he  re-lived  more  terrible 
than  ever  in  Octavius.  Lavalle  did  not  then  know 
that  in  killing  the  body  he  could  not  kill  the  spirit ;  and 
that  political  personages  take  their  character  and  ex- 
istence from  the  ideas,  interests,  and  ends  of  the  party 
they  represent.  If  Lavalle  had  shot  Rosas  instead  of 
Dorrego,  perhaps  he  would  have  saved  the  world  from 
a  great  scandal,  humanity  from  a  great  opprobrium,  and 
the  Republic  from  much  blood  and  many  tears  ;  but, 
even  if  Rosas  had  been  shot,  the  provinces  would  still 
have  had  representatives ;  and  there  would  have  been 
only  the  change  of  one  historical  picture  for  another. 
But  what  people  pretend  to  ignore  to-day,  is,  that — not- 
withstanding the  purely  personal  responsibility  of  the 
deed,  as  far  as  Lavalle  is  concerned  —  the  death  of  Dor- 
rego was  a  necessary  consequence  of  the  prevailing 
ideas  of  vthe  time  ;  and  that  by  this  act  the  soldier  who 
was  brave  enough  to  defy  history,  only  accomplished 


s 


158  LIFE  IN   THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

the  avowed  wish  of  the  citizens.  What  had  interfered 
with  the  proclamation  of  the  Constitution  of  1826  but 
the  hostility  of  Ibarra,  Lopez,  Bustos,  Quiroga,  Ortiz, 
and  the  Aldaos,  each  of  whom  ruled  a  province,  and 
some  of  whom  influenced  the  others  ?  Now,  what 
would  appear  so  reasonable  at  that  time,  and  to  those 
.men  who  reasoned  a  priori,  as  to  get  rid  of  what  they 
considered  the  only  obstacle  to  the  desired  organization 

the  Republic  ?  " 

These  political  errors  which  belonged  to  the  time 
rather  than  to  the  men,  are  yet  worthy  of  considera- 
tion, for  upon  them  depend  the  explanation  of  many 
social  phenomena.  Lavalle  in  shooting  Dorrego,  just 
'as  he  would  have  shot  Bustos,  Lopez,  Facundo,  and 
others  of  that  class,  only  fulfilled  the  requirements  of 
his  time  and  party.  Even  in  1834  there  were  still 
men  in  France  who  believed  that  if  they  could  get  rid 
of  Louis  Philippe,  the  French  Republic  would  revive 
in  all  the  greatness  and  glory  of  the  past !  Perhaps 
also  the  death  of  Dorrego  was  one  of  those  fated  events 
which  form  the  nucleus  of  history,  without  which  it 
would  be  incomplete  and  unmeaning.  Civil  war  had 
been  long  threatening  the  Republic.  Rivadavia  had 
foreseen  it  with  all  its  horrors ;  Facundo  had  uncon- 
sciously kept  his  hordes  on  the  slopes  of  the  Andes  in 
waiting  for  this  event ;  and  Rosas'  private  life  had 
been  a  ten  years'  preparation  towards  the  same  end.  , 
Dorrego  was  in  the  way  of  all  parties :  of  the  Unitarios, 
for  they  despised  him ;  of  the  provincial  leaders,  for  he 
had  proved  useless  to  them ;  and  in  that  of  Rosas,  be-  "' 
cause  he  was  impatient  of  keeping  under  the  shadow  of 
the  city  parties,  and  eager  to  obtain  the  government,  - 


THE  COMING  CAMPAIGN.  JL<, 

or  in  other  words,  to  become  what  he  was  not,  and- 
could  never  be,  that  is,  a  Federal,  in  the  strict  sense  of 
the  term.  He  represented  the  third  social  element,  ' 
which  from  Artigas  to  Facundo  .had  been  eag£r  to 
show  itself  without  disguise,  and  to  measure  its  strength 
with  that  of  European  civilization.  If  Dorrego  had 
not  died,  it  does  not  follow  that  the  craving  thirst  of 
Facundo  would  have  been  quieted,  or  that  Rosas  would 
have  failed  to  represent  the  provinces  in  the  struggle 
-  which  had  begun  long  before  1820.  No,  Lavalle  only 
lighted  the  match  which  was  to  fire  the  mine  long  ago 
prepared  by  both  Unitarios  and  Federals. 

From  this  moment  there  was  nothing  for  the  timid 
but  to  stop  their  ears  and  shut  their  eyes.  All  others 
everywhere  rushed  to  arms  ;  the  tread  of  horsemen  was 
heard  over  the  pampas,  and  the  cannon's  black  mouth 
was  seen  at  the  gates  of  the  cities. 

We  must  now  leave  Buenos  Ayres  to  see  what  is 
passing  in  the  other  provinces.  It  must  be  mentioned, 
by  the  way,  that  Lopez,  having  been  beaten  in  several 
encounters,  sued  in  vain  for  reasonable  terms  of  peace  ; 
and  that  Rosas  had  serious  thoughts  of  going  over  to 
the  side  of  Brazil.  Lavalle  refused  to  share  in  any  of 
the  transactions,  and  was  soon  put  down  ;  here  was  the  i 
true  Unitario  disdain  of  the  gaucho,  and  faith  in  the 
final  triumph  of  the  "  city."  If  Lavalle  had  adopted 
another  line  of  conduct  and  kept  the  seaport  in  thq 
hands  of  the  citizens,  might  not  the  cruel  Pampas  Gov- 
ernment have  been  prevented  ? 

Facundo  was  in  his  element.  A  campaign  was  about 
to  begin  ;  expresses  rushed  to  and  fro ;  the  feudal  system 
of  independence  was  to  become  a  confederation  of  war. 


j.00  LIFE  IK  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

Everything  was  put  in  requisition  for  the  corning  cam- 
paign, and  it  was  found  unnecessary  to  go  to  the  banks  «. 
of  the  La  Plata  for  a  good  battle-field.     General  Paz,  s* 
with   eight  hundred  veterans,  had  gone  to  Cordova, 
fought  and  conquered  Bustos,  and  taken  possession  of 
the  city,  which  was  but  a  step  from  the  Llanos,  and 
within  reach  of  the  cries  from  the  "  montoneras  "  of  the 
Sierra  Cordova. 

Facundo  hastened  his  preparations ;  he  longed  for  a 
personal  encounter  with  a  one-armed  general  who  could 
not  manage  a  lance  or  flourish  a  sword.  What  could 
Paz  hope  for  in  an  encounter  with  the  conqueror  of 
Colonel  Madrid  ?  Facundo  was  to  be  joined  by  Don 
Felix  Aldao,  a  friar  general  from  Mendoza,  with  a 
regiment  of  trained  auxiliaries  equipped  entirely  in 
red ;  and  without  waiting  for  a  force  of  seven  hun- 
dred regulars  from  San  Juan,  he  set  out  for  Cordova 
with  four  thousand  men,  eager  to  measure  arms  with 
the  cuirassiers  of  the  second  division  and  their  officers. 

The  battle  of  Tablada  is  so  well  known  that  details 
are"  unnecessary.  It  has  been  brilliantly  described  in 
the  "  Revue  des  deux  Mondes  ;  "  but  there  is  one  fact 
jvorth  remembering.  Facundo  attacked  the  city  with 
all  his  army,  and  was  repulsed  for  a  day  and  night  by 
one  hundred  young  clerks,  thirty  mechanics,  and  seven 
sick  soldiers,  from  behind  slight  breastworks  defended 
by  only  four  pieces  of  artillery.  And  it  was  only  when 
he  announced  his  intention  of  burning  the  beautiful 
city,  that  they  consented  to  surrender  the  place.  Know- 
ing that  Paz  was  approaching,  he  left  his  infantry  as 
useless,  and  went  out  to  meet  him  with  a  cavalry  force 
at  least  three  times  as  large  as  the  army  of  his  oppo- 


TABLADA  AND  CORDOVA.  161 

nent ;  then  came  hard  fighting,  and  the  cavalry  charged 
again  and  again,  but  in  vain.  That  mass  of  horsemen, 
.though  surrounding  the  eight  hundred  veterans,  were 
driven  back  every  moment,  and  compelled  to  return  to 
the  charge.  The  lance  of  Quiroga  forcing  back  his 
own  retreating  men,  caused  as  much  terror  in  the  rear 
of  his  army  as  the  guns  and  swords  of  the  enemy  in 
front.  But  all  was  in  vain  ;  it  was  like  the  raging 
billows  of  the  sea  beating  against  a  rough,  motionless 
rock  ;  sometimes,  indeed,  it  is  engulfed  by  the  angry 
waves,  but  its  black  summit  presently  reappears  firm 
and  unshaken.  Of  the  eight  hundred  auxiliaries  only 
sixty  survived,  and  of  the  six  hundred  red  cavalry,  not 
a  third  were  living  ;  the  numerous  other  companies 
lost  all  discipline,  and  fled  in  every  direction.  Facundo 
retreated  to  the  city,  and  the  next  day  lay  with  his 
guns  and  infantry  like  a  tiger  in  ambush  :  but  all  was 
soon  over,  and  fifteen  hundred  dead  bodies  proved  how 
obstinate  the  contest  had  been  on  both  sides. 

'The  battles  of  Tablada  and  Cordov_a_were  trials  of 
strength  between  the  provincial  and  city  forces  under 
their  great  leaders,  Facundo  and  Paz,  worthy  repre- 
sentatives of  the  two  powers  which  were  struggling  for 
dominion  in  the  Republic.     Facundo,  ignorant,  barba-  / 
rous,  for  the  greater  part  of  his  life  an  outlaw,  and  fa-  . 
mous  only  for  his  acts  of  desperation ;  brave  to  rash- 
ness, endowed  with  herculean  strength,  always  upon 
his  horse,  which  he  managed  skillfully  through  terrpr\  . 
and  violence,  knowing  no  other  power  than  that  bf 
brute  force,  had  no  faith  but  in  his  horse,  and  dependent 
for  success  upon  bravery,  the  lance,  and  the  terrrole 
charges  of  his  cavalry.     In  all  the  Argentine  Republic  % 
11 


162  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

there  was  not  a  more  perfect  specimen  of  the  "  gauclio 
malo" 

PaZjOn  the  contrary,  was  a  true  son  of  the  city,  and 
representative  of  the  power  of  civilization.  Lavalle, 
Madrid,  and  others  like  them,  were  native  Argentines ; 

'cavalry  officers,  as  brilliant  as  Murat,  perhaps,  but  the 

,  cuirass  and  epaulets  could  not  hide  the  gaucho  nature* 
But  Paz  was  a  European  soldier,  and  only  believed  in 

.  (bravery  as  subordinate  to  tactics,  strategy,  and  disci- 
pline. He  hardly  knew  how  to  ride,  and  having  only 

'one  hand,  could  not  use  a  lance.  A  very  large  army 
was  unwieldy  and  troublesome  to  him  ;  what  he  liked, 
was  a  small  number  of  soldiers  thoroughly  disciplined. 
A  regiment  of  his  training  was  sure  to  be  perfect  of  its 
kind,  and  could  he  have  selected  his  own  battle-fields, 
the  fate  of  the  Republic  would  have  been  secure.  He 
was  in  spirit  a  European  soldier,  even  to  the  arms  he 
used  ;  he  was  an  artillery  officer,  and  therefore  math- 
ematical and  scientific.  A  battle  was  a  problem  which 
he  could  solve  by  equations,  and  foretell  the  unknown 
quantity  —  that  is,  the  victory.  General  Paz  was  not 
a  genius,  but  an  able  officer,  who  employed  science 
where  others  made  use  of  brute  force  ;  in  a  word,  he 
was  the  representative  of  European  civilization,  which 
was  in  a  fair  way  to  die  out  in  our  country.  Unfortu- 
nate General  Paz  !  Honor  be  to  thee  in  thy  repeated 
disasters !  With  thee  are  the  household  gods  of  the 
Republic  !  Destiny  has  not  yet  decided  between  thee 
and  Rosas,  between  the  cities  and  the  pampas,  be- 
tween the  blue  stripe  and  the  red  ribbon  !  Thou  hast 
the  only  quality  of  mind  that  in  the  end  conquers  brute 
force,  —  the  quality  in  which  lay  the  power  of  the  old 


GENERAL  PAZ.  ?    163 

martyrs  !     Thou  hast  faith.    Faith  has  saved  thee,  and 
in  thee  is  the  only  hope  of  the  Republic. 

There  is  certainly  a  destiny  about  this  man.  He* 
alone,  in  the  ill-advised  revolution  of  the  first  of  De- 
cernber,  was  able  to  justify  it 'by  victory.  Taken  t  at  ^ 
<^last  from  the  head  of  his  army  by  the  irresistible  power 
of  the  gaucho,  he  was  kept  ten  years  in  prison,  Rosas,  . 
even,  not  daring  to  kill  him,  as  if  a  guardian  angel 
watched  over  his  life.  He  escaped  almost  miracu- 
lously one  stormy  night,  and  through  the  rough  waters 
of  the  La  Plata,  reached  the  eastern  bank.  Repulsed  at 
one  place,  and  disappointed  at  another,  he  at  last 
obtained  command  of  the  few  remaining  forces  of  a 
province  which  had  seen  three  armies  successively 
destroyed.  From  such  remnants  he  again  gathered 
with  much  care  and  patience  means  of  resistance,  and 
when  the  armies  of  Rosas  had  triumphed  everywhere, 
and  carried  terror  throughout  the  Republic,  the  one- 
armed  general  called  aloud  from  the  marshes  of  Cagu- 
azu,  "  The  Republic  still  lives  !  "  Afterwards,  de- 
spoiled of  his  laurels  by  those  he  had  served,  and  igno- 
miniously  taken  from  the  head  of  his  army,  he  sought 
refuge  among  his  enemies  in  Entre  Rios,  where  the 
very  elements  seemed  to  protect  him,  and  even  the 
gauchos  of  the  forest  Montiel  did  not  have  it  in  their 
hearts  to  kill  the  one-armed  man  who  harmed  no  one. 
.At  last  he  reached  Montevideo,  and  learned  that  Ri- 
bera  had  been  defeated,  probably  because  he  was  not 
there  to  take  the  enemy  in  his  own  snares.  The  whole 
city  was  in  consternation,  and  hurried  to  the  poor 
lodging  of  the  fugitive  to  beg  for  advice  and  comfort. 
."  If  I  can  only  have  twenty  days,  they  will  not  take 


364  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

the  city,"  was  the  only  answer,  given,  not  with  enthu- 
siasm, but  with  mathematical  certainty.  Oribe  gave . 
Paz  all  he  asked  for,  and  three  years  have  passed  since 
that  day  of  terror  at  Montevideo.  When  he  had 
secured  the  place  well,  and  accustomed  the  garrison' to 
fight  daily  as  a  matter  of  course,  he  went  to  Brazil  and 
remained  longer  than  was  agreeable  to  his  friends,  and 
when  Rosas  was  hoping  to  hear  of  him  in  the  hands  of 
the  imperial  police,  he  learned  that  he  was  at  Cor- 
rientes  training  six  thousand  men  ;  that  he  had  formed 
an  alliance  with  Paraguay,  and  also  that  Brazil  had 
invited  France  and  England  to  take  part  in  the  con- 
test ;  so  that  the  question  between  the  provinces  and 
the  cities  had  now  become  a  struggle  between  the 
one-armed,  scientific  Paz  and  the  gaucho  barbarian 
Rosas ;  between  the  Pampas  on  one  side  and  Para- 
guay, Uruguay,  Brazil,  England,  and  France  on  the  ^ 
other. 

It  was  especially  to  the  honor  of  General  Paz  that 
even  the  enemies  he  had  fought  with  neither  hated  nor  > 
feared  him  personally.    The  "  Gaceta  "-  of  Rosas,  so 
prodigal  of  its  calumniations,  never  succeeded  in  abus- 
ing him  thoroughly,  a  proof  that  he  inspired  his  very' 
detractors  with  respect.    Many  of  the  followers  of  Rosas 
in  their  hearts  admired  Paz,  and  the  old  Federals  never 
forgot  that  he  had  always  protected  them  from  the  fury  x' 
of  the  old  Unitarios.   Who  knows  if  Providence,  which  , 
holds  in  its  hand  the  fate  of  nations,  has  not  preserved'' 
this  man  through  many  dangers  to  aid  in  the  recon- 
struction  of  the  Republic  under  laws  which  permit 
liberty  without  license,  and  do  not  need  to  be  enforced 
by  violence.     Paz  is  a  provincial  by  birth,  a  guarantee 


LIBERAL  ELEMENT  IN  CORDOVA.      ".     .-165 

that  he  would  never  sacrifice  the  provinces  to  Buenes 
Ay  res  and  the  port,  as  Rosas  has  done  to  obtain  mill-  - 
ions  while  he  impoverishes  the  people  of  the  interior ; 
just  what  the  Federals  had  accused  the  Congress  of  1826 
of  wishing  to  do. 

The  conquest  of  Tablada  was  the  beginning  of  a 
new  era  for  the  city  of  Cordova,  which,  until  then, 
according  to  the  message  of  General  Paz  to  the  pro- 
vincial representatives,  "  had  occupied  the  lowest  place 
among  the  Argentine  cities,  constantly  opposing  effort 
towards  the  construction  of  a  jconstifeutioiL-  for  the 
nation,  or  for  its  own  province,  either  under  the  rule 
of  Federals  or  Unitarios." 

However,  Cordova,  like  all  the  Argentine  cities,  con- 
tained its  liberal  element,  but  kept  under  until  then  by 
an  absolute  and  conservative  government  like  that  of  - 

JBustos.  From  the  moment  that  Paz  entered  the  city, 
this  element  appeared  openly,  and  showed  how  much  it 
had  strengthened  during  nine  years  of  that  Spanish 
government. 

I  have  before  described  Cordova  as  antagonistic  in 
spirit  to  Buenos  Ayres  ;  there  is  one  circumstance  in 
favor  of  its  future  development.  The  inhabitants  have 
the  greatest  possible  respect  for  learning,  an  effect  pro- 
duced by  the  university  of  two  centuries  standing. 
The  love  of  learning  presupposes  a  certain  degree  of 
civilization,  so  that  notwithstanding  the  conservative 
nature  and  direction  of  the  studies,  there  must  be  in 

v  Cordova  a  large  number  in  favor  of  progressive*  cul- 
ture and  intelligence.  This  respect  for  learning,  ex- 

-  tends  even  to  the  lower  classes  of  society,  and  Jthis 
explains  why  the  masses  embraced  the  revolution  with 


166  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

an  ardor  which  ten  years  have  not  abated,  and  which 
has  furnished  many  victims  for  the  vengeance  of  the 
Ma*orqueros. 

Paz  brought  with  him  an  interpreter  who  should 
explain  his  ideas  and  objects  to  the  common  people  — 
Barcala,  the  negro  colonel,  who  had  so  gloriously  dis- 
tinguished himself  in  Brazil,  and  was  on  an  equality 
with  the  chief  officers  of  the  army :  Barcala  the  freed- 
man,  who  had  devoted  himself  to  the  task  of  interest- 
ing the  working  classes  in  a  revolution  which  regarded 
neither  color  nor  class  in  rewarding  true  merit.  This 
Barcala  was,  as  far  as  possible,  to  make  the  change  of 
ideas  and  aims  popular  among  the  citizens  ;  and  he 
succeeded  beyond  the  most  sanguine  expectations. 
jThe  middle  classes  of  Cordova  were  from  that  time  in 
favor  of  civil  order  and  progressive  civilization. 

The  young  men  of  Cordova  were  distinguished  in 
the  war  for  their  disinterested  devotion  to  the  cause'; 
many  fell  on  the  field  of  battle,  or  under  the  knife  of 
the  assassin,  and  still  more  were  condemned  to  the 
pains  of  exile.  In  the  battles  of  San  Juan,  the  bodies 
of  Cordovian  "  doctors  "  lay  piled  in  the  streets,  ob- 
structing the  artillery  that  they  were  carrying  against 
the  enemy. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  clergy,  who  had  encouraged 
the  opposition  to  Congress  and  the  constitution,  had 
had  time  to  measure  the  abyss  to  which  civilization 
would  be  brought  by  such  defenders  of  the  faith  as 
Facundo,  Lopez,  etc.,  and  did  not  hesitate  to  declare 
in  favor  of  General  Paz. 

Thus  the  "  doctors  "  and  young  men,  the  clergy  as 
well  as  the  masses,  were  now  of  one  opinion,  and  ready 


TREATY  WITH  LOPEZ  OF  SANTA  FE.  167 

to  uphold  the  principles  implied  in  the  new  order  of  ' 
things  ;  and  Paz  could  at  once  begin  to  reorganize  the 
province  and  to  establish  friendly  relations  with  others. 
A  treaty  was  confirmed  with  Lopez  of  Santa  Fe*,  who  *  , 
was  induced,  by  Don  Domingo  de  Oro1  to  join  Paz.2,/ 
Salta  and  Tucuman  had  already  submitted,  and  only 
the  western  provinces  remained  hostile. 

1  Domingo  de  Oro  was  a  noble  patriot,  wh<J  opposed  Rosas  at  the  cost  \ 
of  everything  that  makes  life  dear. 

2  General  Paz,  late  Vice-President  of  the  Argentine  Republic,  died  of 
cholera  within  this  year. 


CHAPTER  X. 

CIVIL    WAR. 

WHAT  has  become  of  Facundo  in  the  mean  time  ? 
At  Tablada  he  had  lost  everything,  —  arms,  officers, 
men,  reputation ;  everything  except  rage  and  valor. 
Moral,  governor  of  Rioja,  taken  aback  by  the  news 
of  this  unlooked-for  disaster,  availed  himself  of  a 
slight  excuse  for  leaving  the  city,  and  from  Sanogasta 
sent  Quiroga  a  despatch  offering  him  what  assistance 
the  province  could  afford.  Before  the  expedition  the 
friendship  between  this  nominal  governor  and  the  all- 
powerful  commander  had  somewhat  cooled.  Quiroga 
thought  he  had  not  had  the  full  number  of  armed  men 
that  he  considered  due  him  from  the  result  of  the 
census,  in  addition  to  the  troops  already  in  the 
province,  and  which  had  come  from  Tucuman,  San 
Juan,  Catamarca,  etc.  And  another  circumstance 
strengthened  the  suspicions  with  which  Quiroga  re- 
garded the  governor.  Sanogasta  was  the  manorial 
residence  of  the  Dorias  Davilas,  the  enemies  of  the 
commander ;  and  the  governor,  foreseeing  what  the 
suspicions  of  Facundo  would  deduce  from  the  date  of 
the  despatch,  dated  it  from  Uanchin,  a  place  about 
four  leagues  distant.  But  Quiroga  knew  that  Moral 
was  in  Sanogasta,  and  all  his  doubts  were  confirmed. 
Fontanel  and  Barcena,  two  of  Facundo's  odious  in- 


;  THE  MURDERER  BARCENA.  169 

struments,  were  sent  out  with  a  party  to  scour  the 
country  for  the  purpose  of  impressing  as  many  men 
as  they  could  find,  but  the  inhabitants  took  care  to 
escape,  so  that  they  were  not  veiy  successful  in  their 
day's  hunt,  and  returned  with  only  eleven  persons 
who  were  shot  upon  the  spot.  Don  Inocencio  Moral, 
an  uncle  of  the  governor,  with  his  two  sons,  one 
only  fourteen  years  of  age,  were  among  the  victims 
of  that  day.  There  was  also  among  them  a  Don 
Mariano  Pasos,  who  had  once  before  incurred  the 
anger  of  Quiroga.  When  he  was  starting  on  one  of 
his  previous  expeditions,  this  man,  seeing  the  disor- 
derly troops,  had  said  to  a  fellow-merchant,  "  What 
men  for  fighting  !  "  Quiroga  hearing  it,  had  the  two 
criticizers  brought  before  him  ;  one  was  tied  to  a  post 
and  received  two  hundred  lashes,  while  the  other  stood 
by  awaiting  his  share.  The  latter,  however,  was 
spared  when  his  turn  came,  and  afterwards  became 
the  governor  of  Rioja  and  a  great  friend  of  Quiroga. 

Meanwhile,  Governor  Moral,  knowing  what  he 
might  expect,  fled  from  the  province,  but  he  was 
eventually  caught,  and  received  seven  hundred  lashes 
for  his  ingratitude,  for  it  was  he  who  had  shared  the 
eighteen  thousand  dollars  extorted  from  Dorrego. 

That  Barcena  before  mentioned  was  ordered  to 
assassinate  the  commissioner  of  the  English  mining 
company ;  and  I  heard  from  himself  the  details  of  this 
atrocious  murder,  which  he  committed  in  his  own 
house,  desiring  his  wife  and  children  to  stand  out  of 
the  way  of  the  balls  and  sword-cuts. 

Barcena  accompanied  Oribe  in  his  expedition  to  Cor- 
dova ;  and  during  a  ball  given  in  honor  of  the  triumph 


170  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

over  Lavalle,  threw  the  bloody  heads  of  three  young 
men  into  the  hall  where  their  families  were  dancing. 
This  Barcena  was  the  leader  of  the  band  of  Mazorque- 
ros  which  went  with  the  army  sent  to  Cordova  in  per- 
secution of  Lavalle,  a  regularly  organized  band,  each 
Mazorquero  wearing  at  his  side  a  knife  with  a  blade 
curved  like  a  small  cimeter,  which  was  invented  by 
Rosas  himself  for  the  purpose  of  beheading  men  dex- 
terously. 

Wftat  motive  could  Quiroga  have  had  for  these  atro<- 
cities  ?  He  is  said  to  have  told  Oro  at  Mendoza  that  his 
only  object  was  to  inspire  terror.  And  again,  during 
the  continual  assassinations  of  wretched  peasants,  on 
his  way  to  the  head-quarters  at  Atiles,  one  of  the  Vit- 
lafanes  said  to  him  in  a  tone  of  fear  and  compassion, 
"Is  it  not  enough,  General?"  "Don't  be  a  fool," 
Quiroga  answered ;  "  how  else  can  I  establish  my 
power !  "  This  was  his  one  method,  —  terror  with  the 
citizen,  that  he  might  fly  and  leave  his  fortune ;  terror 
with  the  gaucho,  to  make  him  support  a  cause  in  which 
he  had  no  personal  interest.  With  him  terror  took  the 
place  of  administrative  power,  enthusiasm,  tactics, 
everything.  And  it  cannot  be  denied  that  terror,  as  a 
means  of  government,  produces  much  larger  results 
than  patriotism  or  liberty.  Russia  has  made  use  of  it* 
from  the  time  of  Ivan,  and  has  conquered  the  most 
barbarous  nations  ;  the  bandits  of  the  forest  obey  thte  - 
chief,  wielding  this  power  which  controls  the  fiercest 
natures.  It  is  true  that  it  degrades  men,  impoverishes,^ 
them,  and  takes  from  them  all  elasticity  of  mind,  but 
it  extorts  more  from  a  state  in  one  day  than  it  would 
have  given  in  ten  years  ;  and  what  does  the  rest  matter 


* 


THE  STORY  OF  SEVERA.  171 

to  the  Czar  of  Russia,  the  bandit  chief,  or  the  Argen- 
tine commander  ? 

Facundo  ordered  all  the  inhabitants  of  Rioja  to  emi^ 
grate  to  the  Llanos  under  pain  of  death,  and  the  order 
was  literally  obeyed.  It  is  hard  to  find  a  motive  for 
this  useless  emigration.  Quiroga  was  not  apt  to  fear, 
yet  he  might  have  feared  at  the  moment ;  for  the  Uni- 
tarios  were  raising  an  army  in  Mendoza  to  take  po^- 
session  of  the  government ;  Tucuman  and  Salta  were 
on  the  north ;  and  on  the  east,  Cordova,  Tablada,  and 
General  Paz ;  he  was,  therefore,  pretty  well  sur- 
rounded, and  a  general  hunt  might  very  well  have 
brought  the  Tiger  of  the  Llanos  at  bay.  These  terror- 
ists do  have  their  moments  of  fear :  Rosas  cried  like 
a  child  when  he  heard  of  the  rebellion  at  Chascomus, 
and  eleven  huge  trunks  were  packed  with  his  effects 
ready  to  fly  an  hour  before  news  came  of  the  victory 
of  Alvarez.  But  woe  to  the  people  when  such  mo- 
ments have  passed  !  Then  follow  September  massacres, 
and  pyramids  of  human  heads  arise  in  the  squares  ! 

Notwithstanding  the  order  of  Facundo,  two  persons 
remained  in  Rioja  —  a  young  girl  and  a  priest.  The 
story  of  Severa  Villafane  is  a  pitiful  romance ;  a  fairy 
tale  in  which  the  loveliest  princess  is  a  wandering  fugi- 
tive, sometimes  disguised  as  a  shepherdess,  sometimes 
begging  a  morsel  of  bread,  or  for  protection  from  a 
frightful  giant,  —  a  cruel  Bluebeard.  Severa  had  the 
misfortune  to  excite  the  lust  of  the  tyrant,  and  made 
superhuman  efforts  to  escape  his  persecution.  It  was 
not  only  virtue  resisting  seduction,  but  the  unconquer- 
able repugnance  of  a  delicate  woman  who  detests  those 
coarse  types  of  brute  force.  A  beautiful  woman  will 


172  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

sometimes  barter  something  of  her  honor  for  something 
of  the  glory  which  surrounds  a  celebrated  man  ;  not 
for  the  glory  which  depends  on  the  debasement  of 
others  for  its  brilliancy,  but  the  glory  which  was  the 
cause  of  Madame  de  Maintenon's  frailty,  or  the  literary 
glory  to  which  Madame  Roland  and  other  such  women 
are  said  to  have  sacrificed  their  reputations.  For 
whole  years  Severa  resisted.  At  one  time  she  came 
near  being  poisoned  by  her  tiger ;  at  another,  Quiroga, 
in  a  fit  of  desperation,  tried  to  poison  himself  with 
opium.  Once  she  escaped  with  difficulty  from  the 
hands  of  some  of  his  creatures,  and  again  she  was  sur- 
prised by  Quiroga  in  her  own  court-yard,  where  he 
seized  her  by  the  arm,  beat  her  with  his  fist  until  she 
was  covered  with  blood,  then  threw  her  upon  the 
ground  and  kicked  in  her  skull  with  the  heel  of  his 
boot.  And  was  there  no  one  to  protect  this  poor  girl, 
no  relatives,  no  friends !  One  might  well  think  so ; 
yet  she  belonged  to  the  first  families  of  Rioja  ;  Gen- 
eral Villafane  was  her  uncle,  she  had  brothers  who 
witnessed  the  outrages  ;  and  there  was  a  cur£  who 
shut  the  doors  against  her  when  she  sought  a  refuge  in 
the  sanctuary.  Finally,  Severa  fled  to  Catamarca  and 
went  into  a  convent ;  two  years  afterwards,  when 
Facundo  was  passing  through  that  place,  he  forced  his 
way  into  the  convent,  and  ordered  the  nuns  into  his 
presence ;  at  the  sight  of  him  one  nun  uttered  a  cry 
and  fell  senseless  upon  the  floor  —  it  was  Severa. 

But  we  must  return  to  the  encampment  at  Atiles, 
where  an  army  was  preparing  for  the  purpose  of  recov- 
ering the  reputation  lost  at  Tablada.  Two  Unitarios 
of  San  Juan  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  tyrant : 


RANSOMS.  173 

a  young  Chilian  by  the  name  of  Castro  y  Calvo,  and 
Alexandro  Carril.  Quiroga  asked  the  latter  how 
much  he  would  give  for  his  life. 

"  Twenty-five  thousand  dollars,"  he  answered,  tremb- 
ling. 

"  And  you,  sir,"  asked  Quiroga,  of  the  other,  "  how 
much  will  you  give  ?  " 

"I  can  only  give  four  thousand,"  said  Castro.  "I 
am  only  a  merchant  and  have  no  property." 

They  sent  to  San  Juan  for  the  money,  and  behold 
thirty  thousand  dollars  collected  for  the  war  at  a  very 
small  cost.  While  waiting  for  the  money,  Facundo 
lodged  them  under  a  carob-tree,  and  employed  them 
in  making  cartridges,  paying  them  two  reals  a  day  for 
their  work. 

The  governor  of  San  Juan,  hearing  of  the  efforts 
made  by  the  family  of  Carril  to  collect  this  ransom, 
took  advantage  of  the  knowledge.  As  governor  of  the 
city  he  could  not  exactly  shoot  his  own  citizens,  though 
an  independent  Federal,  and  neither  did  he  have  the 
power  to  extort  money  from  the  Unitarios.  But  he 
ordered  all  the  political  prisoners  in  the  gaols  to  be 
sent  to  the  camp  at  Atiles  to  join  the  army.  The 
mothers  and  wives  understood  what  fate  they  were  to 
expect,  and  first  one,  and  then  another  and  another, 
succeeded  in  scraping  together  the  sums  necessary  to 
keep  back  their  sons  and  husbands  from  the  den  of  the 
Tiger.  Thus  Quiroga  governed  in  San  Juan  merely 
by  the  terror  of  his  name. 

When  the  brothers  Aldao  were  all  powerful  in  Men- 
doza,  and  had  not  left  in  Rioja  one  man,  old  or  young, 
married  or  single,  who  was  able  to  carry  arms,  Facundo 


174  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

transported  his  head-quarters  to  San  Juan,  where  there 
were  still  many  wealthy  Unitarios.  There  he  soon 
ordered  six  hundred  lashes  to  a  citizen  noted  for  his 
influence,  talent,  and  wealth,  and  walked  himself  by 
the  side  of  the  cart  which  carried  his  expiring  victim 
through  the  streets  ;  for  Facundo  was  very  careful 
about  this  part  of  his  administration  ;  and  not  at  all 
like  Rosas,  who,  from  his  private  room  where  he  was 
taking  his  mats,  sent  Mazorqueros  to  execute  the  atroci- 
ties afterward  charged  upon  the  federal  enthusiasm  of 
the  people.  Not  thinking  this  example  sufficient,  Fa- 
cundo seized  upon  an  old  man,  whom  he  accused  —  or 
scarcely  troubled  himself  to  accuse  —  of  having  served 
as  a  guide  to  some  fugitives,  and  had  him  shot  without 
permitting  him  to  speak  a  word  ;  for  this  heaven-sent 
defender  of  the  faith  cared  very  little  whether  his  vic- 
tims confessed  or  not. 

Public  opinion  being  thus  prepared,  there  were  no 
sacrifices  the  city  of  San  Juan  was  not  ready  to  make 
for  the  defense  of  the  Confederation ;  contributions 
were  given  in  without  remonstrance,  and  arms  ap- 
peared as  if  by  magic.  The  Aldaos  triumphed  in  the 
incapacity  of  the  Unitarios  to  violate  the  treaty  of  Pilar, 
and  then  Quiroga  left  for  Mendoza.  There  no  addi- 
tional terror  was  needed,  for  the  daily  executions 
ordered  by  the  monk  Aldao  had  paralyzed  the  city ;  but 
Facundo  thought  it  necessary  to  justify  the  terror  car- 
ried everywhere  by  his  name.  Some  young  men  of 
San  Juan  had  been  made  prisoners,  and  these,  at  least, 
belonged  to  him.  He  asked  one  of  them  how  many 
guns  he  could  furnish  by  the  end  of  four  days ;  the 
young  man  answered  that  if  he  might  have  time  to 


A  SPARK  OF  HUMANITY.  175 

send  to   Chili  for  them,  he  would  do  all   he   could. 
Quiroga  repeated,  "  How  many  can  you  furnish  now  ?  " 

44  None,"  was  the  answer ;  and  the  next  moment  his 
body  was  taken  away  to  be  buried,  six  others  soon  fol- 
lowing. The  same  question  was  put  orally  or  in 
writing  to  the  prisoners  from  Mendoza,  and  the  answers 
were  more  or  less  satisfactory.  Among  these  was  a 
General  Alvarado,  who  was  brought  before  Facundo. 

"  Sit  down,  General,"  he  said.  "  How  soon  can  you 
deliver  six  thousand  dollars  for  your  ransom  ?  " 

"  Sir,  I  cannot  bring  it  at  all ;  I  have  no  money." 

"  But  you  have  friends  who  would  not  let  you  be 
shot,"  said  Quiroga. 

"  No,  sir ;  I  have  none.  I  was  only  passing  through 
the  province  when  I  was  induced  by  the  public  wish  to 
take  charge  of  the  government." 

"  Where  would  you  like  to  go  ?  "  continued  Qui- 
roga, after  a  moment  of  silence. 

44  Wherever  you  may  order,  sir." 

44  What  do  you  think  of  San  Juan  ?  " 

44  Just  as  you  please,  sir." 

44  How  much  money  do  you  need  ?  " 

44  None,  I  thank  you,  sir." 

Facundo  went  to  a  desk  and  opening  a  bag  of  gold, 
said, 44  Take  what  you  need,  General." 

44  Thanks,  sir,  nothing." 

An  hour  later  the  carriage  of  General  Alvarado  was 
at  his  door  with  his  baggage  in  it,  and  also  General 
Villafane,  who  conducted  him  to  San  Juan,  and  on  his 
arrival  there,  gave  him  a  hundred  ounces  of  gold  from 
General  Quiroga,  begging  him  not  to  refuse  it. 

This  would  seem  to  prove  that  Quiroga's  heart  was 


176  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

not  entirely  dead  to  noble  impressions.  Alvarado  was 
an  old  soldier,  a  grave  and  prudent  general,  who  had 
given  him  no  trouble.  He  afterward  said  of  him,  — 
"  That  Alvarado  is  a  good  soldier,  but  he  doesn't  un- 
derstand our  warfare." 

At  San  Juan  they  brought  before  him  a  Frenchman 
named  Barreau,  who  had  written  about  him  as  only  a 
Frenchman  can  write.  Facundo  asked  him  if  he  was 
the  author  of  the  abusive  articles,  and  was  answered  in 
the  affirmative. 

u  Then  what  do  you  expect  ?  " 

"Death,  sir;"  said  the  man;  but  Quiroga  threw  him 
%  a  purse,  saying,  "  There,  take  that,  and  go  somewhere 
'  else  to  be  hung." 

At  Tucuman,  Quiroga  one  day  lay  stretched  on  a 
bench,  when  an  Andalusian  came  up  and  asked  for  the 
General. 

"  He  is  in  there,"  said  Quiroga ;  "  what  do  you 
want  with  him  ?  " 

"I  have  come  to  pay  the  four  hundred  dollars'  con- 
tribution he  has  charged  upon  me,  —  the  fellow  gets 
his  living  easy." 

"  Do  you  know  the  General,  friend  ?  " 

"  No,  and  I  don't  want  to  know  him,  the  rogue  !  " 

"  Come  in  and  take  a  drink,"  said  Quiroga,  but  at 
that  moment  an  aide  came  up,  and  began :  "  Gen- 
eral  ." 

44  General !  "  cried  the  man,  opening  his  eyes,  "  so 
you  are  the  General  !  Ah,  General,"  he  contin- 
ued, falling  on  his  knees,  "I  am  a  poor  devil,  —  you 
wouldn't  be  the  ruin  of  me,  —  the  money  is  all  ready, 
General,  —  come,  don't  be  angry,  now  !  " 


ONCATIVO.  177 

Facundo  burst  into  a  loud  laugh,  told  the  man  to 
make  himself  easy,  and  giving  him  back  the  contribu- 
tion, only  took  two  hundred  of  it  as  a  loan,  which  he 
afterwards  faithfully  repaid.  Two  years  after  this,  a 
paralyzed  beggar  called  out  to  him  in  the  streets  of 
Buenos  Ayres,  — 

"  Good-bye,  General,  I  am  the  Andalusian  of  Tucu- 
man,  and  I'm  paralyzed."  Facundo  gave  him  six 
dollars. 

These  things  prove  the  theory,  which  the  modern 
drama  has  exhibited  with  so  much  brilliancy,  namely, 
that  in  the   darkest  characters  of  history  there  will 
always  be  found  a  ray  of  light,  however  totally  if, 
seems  sometimes  to  vanish.  .  ( 

But  let  us  resume  the  course  of  public  events.    After ' 
the  solemn  inauguration  of  terror  in  Mendoza,  Facundo   '- 
retired  to  Retamo,  whither  the  Aldao  brothers  had  car- 
ried a  contribution  of  a  hundred  thousand  dollars  ex- 
torted from  the  Unitarios.     There  they  gambled  day 
and  night,  playing  for  enormous  stakes,  until  Facundo 
had  won  the  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

A  year  passed  in  preparations  for  the  war,  and  at 
the  end  of  1830  a  new  and  formidable  army,  composed 
of  divisions  recruited  in  Rioja,  San  Juan,  Mendoza,  and 
San  Luis,  marched  against  Cordova.  General  Paz, 
desirous  of  avoiding  bloodshed,  though  sure  of  winning 
new  laurels  should  an  engagement  take  place,  sent 
Major  Pawnero,  an  officer  of  prudence,  energy,  and 
sagacity,  to  meet  Quiroga  with  proposals  of  peace,  and 
even  of  alliance.  It  might  be  thought  that  Quiroga 
would  be  disposed  to  accept  any  reasonable  opportu- 
nity for  adjustment ;  but  the  intervention  of  the  Bue- 

12 


178  LIFE  IN   THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

nos  Ayres  commission,  which  had  no  other  object  than 
to  prevent  any  adjustment,  and  his  own  pride  and  pre- 
sumption on  finding  himself  at  the  head  of  a  more  pow- 
erful and  better  disciplined  army  than  the  first,  made 
him  reject  the  peace  proposals  of  the  more  modest 
General  Paz.  Facundo  had  this  time  arranged  some- 
thing like  a  plan  for  the  campaign.  Communications 
established  in  the-  Sierra  de  Cordova  had  excited  the 
pastoral  population  to  rebellion  ;  General  Villafane  ap- 
proached on  the  north  with  the  division  from  Cata- 
marca,  while  Facundo  came  up  from  the  south.  It  was 
not  very  difficult  for  General  Paz  to  see  through  the 
designs  of  Quiroga,  and  to  disappoint  them.  One  night 
the  army  disappeared  from  the  immediate  neighborhood 
of  Cordova,  no  one  knew  where ;  it  had  been  seen  by 
many  persons,  but  in  different  places  at  the  same  time. 
If  there  has  ever  been  in  America  anything  like  the 
complicated  strategy  of  Bonaparte's  campaigns  in  Italy, 
it  was  when  Paz  made  forty  companies  cross  the  Sierra 
de  Cordova  and  take  a  position  where  they  would 
inevitably  intercept  all  fugitives  from  a  regular  battle. 
The  Montonera,  paralyzed,  surrounded  on  all  sides,  fell 
into  the  net  which  had  been  spread  for  it.  It  is  not 
necessary  to  give  the  particulars  of  that  memorable 
battle.  General  Paz,  in  his  despatch,  gave  the  num- 
ber of  his  loss  as  seventy,  for  appearance  sake,  but  in 
fact,  he  had  only  lost  twelve  men  in  a  contest  with 
eight  thousand  men,  and  twenty  pieces  of  artillery.  A 
simple  maneuvre  had  defeated  the  valiant  Quiroga; 
and  the  army  which  had  cost  so  many  tears  and  hor- 
rors of  all  kinds,  only  served  to  show  Facundo's  bad 
management,  and  to  give  to  Paz  several  thousand  use-, 
less  prisoners. 


CHAPTER  XL 

SOCIAL    WAR. 

"  A  horse,  a  horse  !  my  kingdom  for  a  horse.  "  —  Shakespeare. 

CHACON. 

FACUNDO,  the  gaucho  outlaw  of  the  Llanos,  did  not 
return  to  the  country  this  time,  but  went  directly  to 
Buenos  Ayres,  and  it  was  this  unexpected  step  that 
prevented  him  from  falling  into  the  hands  of  his  pur- 
suers. He  saw  that  he  could  do  nothing  more  in  the 
provinces,  and  for  this  once  he  could  not  even  stop  to 
harass  the  peasantry  on  his  way,  for  his  conquerors 
were  ready  to  come  to  their  defense  from  all  directions. 

Important  advantages  were  secured  by  this  battle  of 
Oncativo  or  Laguna  Larga.  Cordova,  Mendoza,  San^ 
Juan,  San  Luis,  La  Rioja,  Catamarca,  Tucuman,  Salta, 
and  Jujui,  were  now  free  from  the  rule  of  the  country 
commandants.  The  unity  of  the  Republic,  which  Riva- 
davia  had  hoped  to 


means,  seemed  now  about  to  be  effected  by  means  of 
arms,  at  least  in  this  portion  of  it  ;  and  General  Paz 
called  a  congress  of  deputies  from  these  provinces  to 
consider  what  form  of  constitution  would  be  desirable. 
Lavalle  had  been  less  fortunate  in  Buenos  Ayres,  and  x 
Rosas,  who  was  destined  to  play  such  a  terrible  part 
in  Argentine   history,  had  already  begun  to  influence  \ 
public  affairs,  and  to  rule  the  city.     The  Republic  was 


ISO  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

now,  therefore,  divided  into  two  parts :  one  in  the  in- 
terior, which  desired  Buenos  Ay  res  for  the  capital  of 
the  union  ;  the  other  in  Buenos  Ayres,  which  made  a 
pretense  of  not  wishing  this  city  to  be  the  capital,  that 
vit  might  separate  itself  from  European  civilization  and 
civiLorder. 

Another  fact  had  been  disclosed  by  this  battle, 
namely,  that  the  Montonera  had  lost  its  primitive . 
.-strength,  and  that  civilized  armies  could  compete  with 
it  successfully.  It  is  a  significant  fact  in  Argentine 
history,  that,  as  time  passes,  the  pastoral  bands  lose 
their  early  vigor.  Facundo  was  already  obliged  to 
-  spur  them  on  with  terror,  and  they  were  but  a  dull, 
disorderly  set,  opposed  to  troops  disciplined  and  guided 
iby  rules  of  strategy  and  art.  In  Buenos  Ayres,  how- 
ever, the  result  was  different.  Lavalle,  notwithstand-/ 
ing  his  bravery,  which  had  been  sufficiently  proved  at 
'Puente  Marquez,  and  his  large  number  of  regular 
troops,  yielded  at  the  end  of  the  campaign,  shut  up  as 
he  was  in  the  city  by  thousands  of  gauchos  collected 
by  Rosas  and  Lopez.  By  a  treaty  which  was  to  all 
purpose  a  capitulation,  he  gave  up  his  authority,  and 
•Rosas  entered  Buenos  Ayres.  I  believe  that  only 
through  an  unfortunate  mistake  of  his,  Lavalle  lost  the 
•victory.  He  had  been  famous  for  the  success  of  his 
cavalry  -charges ;  at  the  defeat  of  Toreta  or  Moquegua, 
I  do  not  remember  which,  Lavalle  made  forty  charges 
during  the  day  to  protect  the  retreating  army,  and  I 
doubt  if  the  cavalry  of  Murat  ever  did  as  much.  But 
unfortunately,  Lavalle,  remembering  in  1839  that  the 
Montenera  had  conquered  him  in  1830,  abandoned  his  x 
military  education  and  adopted  the  Montonera  system. 


BUENOS  AYRES.  181 

„  v- 

He  equipped  four  thousand  horse,  and  went  into  the  ^ 
streets  of  Buenos  Ayres  at  the  same  time  that  Rosas 
.  who  had  conquered  him  in  1830,  gave  up  his  cavalry, 
in  spite  of  native  instincts,  and  finished  the  campaign 
with  infantry  and  artillery.     They  exchanged  parts':"' 
the   gaucho   assumed   the   military  uniform,   and  the 
soldier  the  poncho  ;  the  former  triumphed,  the  latter 
died  pierced  by  a  ball  from  the  Montonera.     A  hard  4 
lesson !     If  Lavalle  had  made  the  campaign  of  1840", 
according   to  military  rules,  we    should  now,   on  the  , 
*  banks  of  the  Plata,  be  preparing  for  steam  navigation 
on  the  rivers,  and  distributing  farms  to  European  emi- 
grants.   Paz  was  the  first  citizen  general  who  triumphed 
over  the  pastoral  or  provincial  element ;  because  he 
brought  to  bear  against  it  all  the  resources  of  European 
military  art,  directed  by  a  mathematical  head. 

The  labors  of  Paz  in  Cordova  had  been  to  such  pur-    , 
pose  that  after  two  years  Facundo  found  it  impossible 
to  reestablish  his  influence  in  the  provinces ;    it,  was 
only  the   civilized,  the  refined  city  of  Buenos  Ayres' 
that  offered  an  asylum  for  his  barbarism. 

The  journals  of  Cordova  at  that  time  gave  the  Euro- 
pean news,  the  sessions  of  the  French  assembly ;  the  . 
likenesses  of  Casimir  Perier,  Lamartine,  Chateaubri- 
and, served  as  models  in  the  school  of  design.  Such 
was  the  interest  of  Cordova  in  European  affairs.  And 
at  this  very  time  the  "  Mercantile  Gazette  "  was  assum- 
ing the  semi-barbarous  tone  that  henceforth  character- 
ized the  Argentine  press. 

Facundo  fled  to  Buenos  Ayres,  not  without  shoo  ting  .t 
two  of  his  own  officers  for  trying  to  maintain  order 
among  his  followers.     He  never  belied  his  theory  of 


1,82  UFE  IN  THE   ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

terror,  —  it  was  his  talisman,  his  palladium.    He  would 
sacrifice  everything  rather  than  this  weapon. 

On  arriving  at  the  city,  he  presented  himself  at  the 
court  of  Rosas ;  there  he  happened  to  meet  General 
Guido,  the  most  courteous  and  ceremonious  of  the 
geruerals  who  have  made  their  way  in  the  world  by 
compliments  in  the  antechamber ;  he  offered  one  of  his 
very  best  to  Quiroga,  who  replied  surlily,  "  Am  I  a 
clog,  for  you  to  laugh  at  ?  You  people  here  sent  a  nice 
set  of  doctors  (Cavia  and  Cernadas)  to  get  me  into 
trouble  with  General  Paz.  Paz  beat  me  according  to 
rule."  He  often  regretted  not  having  listened  to  the 
proposals  of  Major  Pawnero. 

Facundo  soon  merged  in  the  crowd  of  the  great  city, 
'and  was  only  occasionally  heard  of  at  the  gaming-table. 
'General  Mancilla  once  threatened  to  throw  a  candle- 
stick at  his  head,  saying,  "  Do  you  think  you  are  still 
in  the  provinces  ?  "  His  gaucho  dress  at  first  attracted 
much  attention — the  poncho,  and  the  long  beard  which 
he  had  sworn  never  to  cut  until  he  had  wiped  out  the 
disgrace  of  the  defeat  at  Tablada ;  but  after  a  little 
while  he  was  scarcely  noticed. 

'  A  great  expedition  against  Cordova  was  then  in  prep- 
aration, and  six  thousand  men  from  Buenos  Ayres  and 
Santa  Fd  had  enlisted  for  the  enterprise.  Lopez  was 
the  commander-in-chief,  with  Balcarce,  Enrique  Mar- 
tinez, and  other  officers  under  him.  Facundo  under- 
took a  desperate  attack  upon  Rioja  or  Mendoza.  He 
received  for  the  purpose  two  hundred  criminals  from 
the  prisons,  collecting  in  addition  sixty  men  in  the 
citv,  and  with  this  company  began  his  march. 

At  Pavon,  Rosas  was  collecting   his  red   cavalry^ 


CAPTURE  OF  RIO  QUARTO.  183 


\ 


Lopez  of  Santa  F6  was  also  there,  and  Facundo  stopped 
to  wait  for  the  other  leaders.  Here,  therefore,  were 
the  three  famous  provincial  leaders  met  together  on  the 
pampas  :  Lopez,  the  pupil  and  successor  of  Artigas  ^ 
Facundo,  the  barbarian  of  the  interior ;  and  Rosas,  the 
bloodhound,  who  had  been  in  training,  but  was  now 
about  to  begin  the  hunt  on  his  own  account.  The  old 
classics  would  have  compared  them  to  the  triumvirate 
Lepidus,  Mark  Anthony,  and  Octavius,  who  divicjed 
the  empire  among  themselves,  a  comparison  quite  per- 
fect even  in  respect  to  the  baseness  and  cruelty  of  the 
Argentine  Octavius.  The  three  leaders  were  now  in'. 
their  element,  and  refreshed  themselves  with  a  bit  pf 
true  gaucho  life  ;  scouring  the  pampas  daily,  and  mak- 
ing trials  of  skill  in  racing,  lassoing  horses,  and  fighto-. ' 
ing;  in  all  of  which  Rosas  was  usually  victorious.  He 
one  day  invited  Lopez  to  have  a  bout,  but  Lopez  said, 
"  No,  comrade,  you  are  too  rough  for  me."  And  in 
fact  he  had  left  them  pretty  well  covered  with  cuts  and 
bruises. 

Quiroga  crossed  the  pampas  by  the  same  road  by 
which,  twenty  years  before,  he  had  fled  as  an  outlaw 
from  Buenos  Ayres.  At  the  city  of  Rio  Quarto  he 
met  with  an  obstinate  resistance,  was  delayed  three 
days  by  the  marshes  which  served  as  a  defense  to  the 
garrison,  and  was  about  to  retreat  when  a  traitor  came 
to  him  with  the  information  that  they  had  no  more 
cartridges.  Thanks  to  this  timely  revelation,  Facundo 
took  the  place  without  difficulty. 

At  Rio  Quinto  he  had  to  contend  with  the  brave 
Pringles,  the  veteran  of  the  war  of  independence,  who 
on  one  occasion,  when  he  was  met  by  the  Spaniards 


184  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

in  a  narrow  pass,  spurred  his  horse  into  the  sea,  with 
the  cry,  "  Viva  la  Patria !"  This  same  Pringles,  whom 
the  viceroy  Pezuela  had  loaded  with  presents,  and  for 
whom  San  Martin  had  struck  off  the  singular  medal, 
"  Honor  to  the  vanquished  of  Chancai"  was  now  to  die 
by  the  hands  of  Quiroga's  convicts. 

rExcited  by  this  unhoped-for  triumph,  Facundo  ad- 
vanced upon  San  Luis,  where  little  resistance  was 
offered.  Beyond  this  the  road  branched  off  into  three, 
and  Quiroga  considered  which  to  take.  The  one  to 
the  right  led  to  the  Llanos,  the  theatre  of  his  early 
deeds,  the  cradle  of  his  power ;  in  this  direction  there 
were  no  forces  superior  to  his  own,  but  neither  had  he 
any  resources  there  to  fall  back  upon.  The  middle 
road  led  to  San  Juan,  where  there  were  a  thousand 
men  in  arms,  but  unable  to  resist  a  charge  of  cavalry 
with  Quiroga's  terrible  lance  at  its  head.  Finally,  the 
road  to  the  left  led  to  Mendoza,  where  the  real  forces 
were  under  command  of  General  Videla  Castillo. 
There  was  a  battalion  of  eight  hundred  trained  men, 
commanded  by  Colonel  Barcala  ;  a  squadron  of  cui- 
rassiers, under  command  of  Lieutenant- Colonel  Che- 
naut,  and  also  some  militia-men,  and  pickets  of  cui- 
rassiers of  the  Guard.  Facundo  had  with  him  only 
three  hundred  undisciplined  men,  and  was  not  in  very 
good  health  himself.  Which  road  should  he  take  ?  He 
chose  the  road  to  Mendoza,  —  came,  saw,  and  con- 
quered. But  how  was  this  possible  ;  was  there  cow- 
ardice or  treachery  ?  Neither.  An  unwise  imitation 
of  European  strategy ;  an  error  in  tactics  in  part,  ' 
and  in  part  an  Argentine  prejudice,  caused  the  shame- 
ful loss  of  this  battle.  Yidela  Castillo  knew  that 


CASTILLO'S  BLUNDERS.  185 

Quiroga  was  approaching,  but  did  not  believe,  as  no 
other  general  would  have  believed,  that  he  would  attack 
Mendoza  ;  he  therefore  sent  to  the  Lakes  his  veteran 
troops,  who,  with  some  other  detachments  from  San 
Juan  under  the  command  of  Major  Castro,  formed  a 
force  strong  enough  to  resist  an  attack,  and  to  force 
Quiroga  to  take  the  road  to  the  Llanos.  So  far  it  was 
all  right.  But  Quiroga  did  march  upon  Mendoza,  and 
the  whole  army  went  out  to  meet  him.  In  the  place 
called  Chacon  there  is  an  open  field  in  which  the  army 
left  its  rear  guard  ;  but  soon  after,  hearing  the  firing 
of  a  company  in  retreat,  General  Castillo  ordered  the 
army  to  fall  back  hastily,  in  order  to  occupy  the  level 
field  of  Chacon.  This  was  a  double  error ;  in  the  first 
place,  because  a  retreat  at  the  approach  of  a  formidable 
enemy  paralyzes  inexperienced  soldiers,  who  do  not 
understand  the  cause  of  the  movement ;  and  secondly, 
because  the  rougher  and  more  broken  the  ground,  the 
better  it  would  have  been  for  fighting  Quiroga,  who 
only  had  with  him  a  small  body  of  infantry.  What 
could  he  have  done  in  such  a  field  against  six  hundred 
infantry  with  a  formidable  battery  of  artillery  in  front  ? 
But  unfortunately  the  officers  were  all  native  Argen- 
tines, who  were  devoted  to  horses  ;  for  them  there 
would  be  no  glory  except  in  a  victory  won  by  the 
sword,  and  therefore  they  thought  an  open  field  for 
cavalry  charges  was  absolutely  necessary  ;  this  is  the 
.mistake  in  Argentine  strategy. 

The  battle  began,  and  a  squadron  of  militia  was 
ordered  to  charge,  —  another  Argentine  mistake  is  this 
of  beginning  the  fight  with  a  charge  of  cavalry,  a  mis- 
take which  has  lost  to  the  Republic  a  hundred  battles. 


186  LIFE  IN  THE   ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

And  in  addition  to  this  error  there  was  a  misapplica- 
tion   of  the  European  art   of  warfare.      In  Europe, 
where   the  masses  of  the  troops  are   in  column,  and 
where  the  battle-field  includes  several  towns  or  ham- 
lets, the  picked  troops  are  kept  in  reserve  until  needed. 
In 'South   America,   a  pitched  battle  generally  takes 
place  in  an  open  field,  the  troops  are  not  numerous, 
and  the  heat  of  the  contest  lasts  but  a  short  time,  so 
that  it  is  always  desirable  to  rush  in  at  once  with  the 
best  men.     In  the  present  case,  a  cavalry  charge  was 
the  worst  possible  beginning,  but  if  it  must  needs  be, 
it  should  at  least  have  been  made  by  the  best  troops,, 
in  order  to  rout  at  once  the  three  hundred  men  who  ' " 
made  up  both  army  and  reserve  of  the  enemy.     In- 
stead of  this,  the  old  routine  was  followed :  ordering  to 
the  front  a  large  number  of  awkward  militia,  each  man 
afraid  of  wounding  himself  with   his  own  lance,  and 
when  the  order  to  charge  was  given,  they  stood  stock 
still,  then  fell  back,  and  being  charged  upon  by  the 
«enemy,  gave  way  and  embarrassed  the  best  troops  be- 
"  hind.     In  a  moment  all  was  confusion,  and  the  battle 
lost  ;  and  Facundo  passed  on  in  triumph  to  Mendoza,^ 
without  caring  for  the  generals,  infantry,   and  guns, 
which  he  left  to  his  rear  guard.     This  was  the  result  ": 
of  the  battle  of  Chacon,  which  left  exposed  the  flank 
of  the  army  of  Cordova  at  the  moment  it  was  about 
to  march  upon  Buenos  Ayres.     Quiroga's  inconceiva- 
bje  audacity  was  crowned  with  the  most  complete  suc- 
cess.   It  was  useless  to  try  to  drive  him  from  Mendoza  ; 
terror  and  the  prestige  of  victory  gave  him  means  of 
resistance,  while  defeat  had  left  his  enemies  discour- 
aged.     He  would  only  have   hastened  to  San  Juan, 


CASTILLO'S   CIVILIZING  WORK.  187' 

> 
where  arms  and  money  were   to  be  had,  and  com- 

smenced  a  useless  and  interminable  war.     The  generajs,  ^ 
therefore,  went  to  Cordova,  and  the  infantry  and  offi- 
cers of  Mendoza  came  to  terms  the  next  day.  -*The   ~~ 
Unitarios  of  San  Juan  emigrated  to  Coquimbo,  to  tne  '  , 
number  of  two   hundred,   and   Quiroga   remained,  hi 
peaceful  possession  of  Cuyo   and  Rioja.     These  two    - 
cities  had  never  suffered  from  all  the  evils  Quiroga  ha$l 
hitherto  brought  upon  them,  as  they  did  now  from  the 
interruption  of  business  caused  by  such  a  large  emigra- 
tion of  the  wealthiest  inhabitants.  » 
But  I  must  especially  remark  upon  the  still  greater 
harm  done  to  the  spirit  of  civilization.     Considering  < 
the  inland  situation  of  Mendoza,  it  had  been  a  highly 
civilized  city,  with  a  spirit  of  enterprise  and  progress 
greater  than  any  city  of  the  Republic  ;  it  was  the-JBar- 
celona   of  the  interior.      The   spirit  of  progress   had 
attained  its  height  under  the  administration  of  Videla 
Castillo.     Two  forts  had  been  built  towards  the  seuth  '  ., 
with  the  double  advantage  of  extending  the  boundary 
ries  of  the  province,  and  of  securing  it  permanently 
from  the  savages.     The  swamps  had  been  drained,  the 
city    ornamented,    societies    of    agriculture,    industry,*"" 
mines,  and  of  public  education  had  been  formed,  and 
directed  by  intelligent,   enthusiastic,  and  enterprising 
men  ;   a  manufactory  of  woollen  and  flax   had   been     v 
established  which   furnished  clothing  for  the    troops, 
and   an   armory  for  the  making  of  swords,  cuirasses, 
lances,  and  bayonets,  with  none  of  the  work  imported . 
except  some  parts  of  the  cannon.     A  French  chemist, 
by  the  name  of  Charron,  had  put  up  a  machine  for 
moulding  bullets,  and  types  for  the  printing-press,  and 


188  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

investigated  the  metals  of  the  province.     It  is  impos-'' 
sible  to  conceive  of  a  more  rapid  development.     These 
things  would  not  have  attracted  so  much  attention  in 

o 

Chili  or  Buenos  Ayres,  but  in  an  inland  province  with 
only  the  aid  of  native  workmen,  the  progress  was  pro- 
digious, and  in  ten  years  it  might  have  been  one  of  the     • 
most  remarkable  places  in  the  country  ;  but  Facundo's      . 
army  crushed  this  promising  civilization,  and  the  monk   *• 
Alclao  passed  his  plough  over  it  and  watered  the  earth 
with  blood  for  ten  years.    What  could  remain  ?  < 

But  the  progress  of  ideas  was  not  entirely  stopped  ^ 
with  the  occupation  of  Quiroga ;  the  members  of  the 
mining  society,  who  emigrated  to  Chili,  there  gave 
themselves  up  to  the  study  of  chemistry,  mineralogy, 
and  metallurgy.  Godoi  Cruz,  Correa,  Villanueva, 
Doncel,  and  many  others,  looked  up  all  books  treating 
of  the  subject,  and  made  a  large  collection  of  different  N 
-metals  from  all  parts  of  South  America  ;  they  also  ex- 
aim/ied  the  Chilian  archives  for  information  about  the 
mines  of  Uspallata,  and  with  much  labor  succeeded  in 
establishing  modes  of  operation  by  which  these  mines 
have  become  profitable,  notwithstanding  the  scarcity 
of  metal.  From  that  time  dates  the  new  and  profitable 
working  of  the  mines  of  Mendoza.  The  Argentine 
miners,  not  satisfied  with  these  results,  scattered  them- 
selves throughout  Chili,  which  afforded  a  rich  field  for 
the  experiments  of  their  science,  and  they  have  accom- 
plished much  at  Copiapo  and  other  places  by  the  intro- 
duction of  new  machinery  and  tools. 

Godoi  Cruz  had  another  object  in  his  researches  : 
he  endeavored,  by  introducing  the  cultivation   of  the^ 
white  mulberry,  to  solve  the  problem  of  the  possible 


INTRODUCTION  OF  THE  SILKWORM.  189 

*»x 

future  of  San  Juan  and  Mendoza,  which  depends  upon 
the  discovery  of  some  production  of  great  value,  yet  of 
jsmall  compass.     Silk  answers  this  condition,  imposed  u 
upon  these  inland  cities  by  their  great  distance  from 
the   seaports,   and   the    high   price  of  transportation. 
Godoi,  not  satisfied  with  publishing  at  Santiago  a  long 
and  complete  treatise  on  the  cultivation  of  the  mul- 
berry, and  the  care  of  the  silkworm  and  cochineal,  had 
it  distributed  through  the  provinces  free  of  cost,  kept 
-the  question  of  the  mulberry  constantly  before  the  pub- 
lic for  ten  years,  urging  its  cultivation,  and  setting  forth 
its  advantages,  while  he  carried  on  a  correspondence  ^ 
with  Europe,  learning  the  current  prices,  and  sending 
over  specimens  of  the  silk  he  had  himself  obtained,  thus 
discovering  the  failings  or  excellences  in  quality,  and  ^ 
.also  the   best   methods   of  spinning.     The    results  of  - 
this  great,  patriotic  labor,  were  all  that  he  could  hope 
fbr  ;   now  there  are  already  some  thousands  of  mul- 
/t)erry-trees,  and  the  silk  gathered  by  the  quintal  Was 
spun,  twisted,  dyed,  and  sold  in  Buenos  Ayres  and 
Santiago,  for  f;he  European  market,  at  the  rate  of  six  , 
or  seven  dollars  a  pound ;    for  the  silk  of  Mendoza ' 
was  as  glossy  as  that  of  the  best  quality  in  Spain  or  ^ 
Italy. 

The  old  man  finally  returned  to  his  native  place  to 
rejoice  in  the  sight  of  a  whole  city  succeeding  in  a 
profitable  change  of  employment,  hoping  that  he  might 
live  to  see  a  caravan  depart  for  Buenos  Ayres,  bearing 
the  valuable  production  which  made  the  wealth  of 
China  for  so  many  years,  and  for  precedence  in  which 
the  manufactories  of  Lyons,  Barcelona,  Paris,  and  all 


190  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

Italy   still    dispute.1     Mendoza   preceded    all    Spanish* 
America  in  developing  this  useful  branch  of  industry. 

Have  Facundo  or  Rosas  ever  done  the  least  thing  for 
the  public  good,  or  been  interested  in  any  useful  object  ?  • 
No.  From  them  come  nothing  but  blood  and  crimes,  * 
I  have  given  .these  details  at  length,  because  in  the 
midst  of  horrors  such  as  I  am  obliged  to  describe,  it  is  T 
comforting  to  pause  on  the  few  progressive  impulses 
which  revive  again  and  again  after  being  apparently 
crushed  by  savage  barbarians.  Civilization  will,  how-j: 
ever  feeble  its  present  resistance,  one  day  resume  its 
place.  There  is  a  new  world  about  to  unfold  itself,' 
and  it  only  awaits  some  fortunate  general  to  put  aside' 
the  iron  heel  which  has  so  long  crushed  it.  Besides, 
history  should  not  be  considered  merely  a  tissue  of 
crimes,  and  for  this  reason  it  is  desirable  to  bring  be- 
fore the  mind  of  a  subjugated  people  a  remembrance  of 
past  epochs.  If  they  desire  for  their  posterity  a  better 
record  than  they  themselves  have,  let  them  not  hope 
for  it  because  the  cannibal,  of  Buenos  Ayres  is  just  now 
tired  of  shedding  blood,  and  permits  exiles  to  return 
,to  their  homes.  This  fact  is  of  no  import  in  the  prog- 
ress of  a  people.  The  great  evil  to  be  dreaded  is  a 
government  which  fears  the  influence  of  thoughtful 
and  enlightened  men,  and  must  either  exile  or  kill 
them.  This  evil  results  from  a  system  which  gives 
one  man  such  absolute  power  that  there  can  be  no  lib- 
erty of  thought  or  action,  no  public  spirit  —  the  desire 
<>f  self-preservation  outweighing  all  interest  for  others. 

1  The  final  result  did  not  justify  these  flattering  expectations.    The 
cultivation  of  silk  died  out  in  Mendoza  for  want  of  encouragement. 


FACUNDO  AT  HIS   OLD  WAYS.  191 

Every  one  for  himself,  and  the  executioner  for-  all 
without  discrimination,  this  is  the  resume  of  the  life 
and  government  of  an  enslaved  people. 

Facundo,  once  more  master  of  Mendoza,  adopted  his 
old  methods  of  raising  money  and  soldiers.  One  even- 
ing his  agents  were  all  over  the  city  arresting  the. 
officers  who  had  capitulated  at  Chacon  ;  for  what  pur- 
pose it  was  not  known,  but  the  officers  felt  no  great 
fear,  confiding  as  they  did  in  the  good  faith  of  the 
treaty.  Nevertheless,  a  number  of  priests  were  also 
brought  in  and  ordered  to  hear  the  confessions  of  the 
officers,  who  were  then  placed  in  a  line  and  shot,  one 
after  another,  under  the  direction  of  Facundo  ;  the  ex- 
ecution lasting  about  an  hour.  He  afterwards  gave  as 
an  excuse  for  this  horrible  violation  of  faith,  that  the 
Unitarios  had  killed  General  Villafane.  There  was 
some  foundation  for  the  charge,  but  the  revenge  was 
monstrous.  At  another  time  he  said,  "  Paz  shot  nine 
of  my  officers,  but  I  have  shot  ninety-six  of  his."  Paz, 
however,  was  not  responsible  for  that  deed,  which  he 
deeply  lamented,  and  which  was  also  an  act  of  retalia- 
tion. 

But  the  system  of  giving  no  quarter,  so  tenaciously 
followed  by  Rosas,  and  the  constant  violation  of  all 
customary  forms,  treaties,  capitulations,  etc.,  are  the 
result  of  causes  not  depending  on  the  personal  charac- 
ter of  the  provincial  leaders.  Acknowledgment  of 
individual  rights  which  lessons  the  horrors  of  war,  is 
the  result  of  centuries  of  civilization,  and  was  not  to  be 
expected  among  the  semi-barbarians  of  the  pampas^ 
The  savage  kills  his  prisoner,  and  respects  no  compact 
when  he  has  occasion  to  violate  it.  v 


192  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

The  death  of  Villafane  had  happened  in  Chili,  and 
had  already  been  avenged  "  eye  for  eye,  tooth  for 
tooth,"  in  accordance  with  the  lex  talionis.  The  per- 
petrator of  this  deed  was  a  remarkable  specimen  of  the 
class  of  men  I  have  been  endeavoring  to  describe,  and 
is  therefore  worthy  of  mention.  Among  the  San  Juan 
emigrants  who  went  to  Coquimbo,  there  was  a  Major 
NiivajT&_from  the  army  of  General  Paz.  This  man, 
who  came  of  a  distinguished  family  of  San  Juan,  was 
small  in  size,  with  a  thin,  flexible  body,  and  celebrated 
in  the  army  for  a  rash  courage.  At  the  age  of  eighteen 
he  mounted  guard  as  lieutenant  of  militia  on  the  night 
when  (in  1820)  the  battalions  of  the  first  division  of 
the  army  of  the  Andes  revolted,  and,  forming  in  four 
companies  before  the  guard-house,  ordered  the  city 
militia  to  surrender.  Navarro  alone  remained  in  the 
guard-house,  and  defended  the  entrance  ;  and  then, 
holding  one  hand  over  three  wounds  in  his  thigh,  cov- 
ering with  the  other  arm  five  wounds  in  his  breast, 
and  blinded  by  the  blood  streaming  from  his  head, 
made  his  way  home,  where  he  was  six  months  recov- 
ering his  strength ;  a  cure  altogether  unhoped  for  and 
well-nigh  miraculous.  Thrown  out  of  his  place  by  the 
disbanding  of  the  militia,  he  devoted  himself  to  trade, 
but  a  trade  accompanied  with  dangers  and  adventures. 
At  first  he  was  engaged  in  introducing  contraband 
goods  into  Cordova  ;  afterwards  he  carried  on  a  trade 
with  the  Indians,  and  finally  married  the  daughter  of 
a  cacique,  lived  with  her  faithfully,  took  part  in  the 
wars  of  the  savages,  and  accustomed  himself  to  eat  raw 
meat,  until,  in  the  course  of  three  years,  he  became  a 
thorough  savage.  While  there  he  heard  that  the  war 


NAVARRO.  193 

with  Brazil  was  about  to  commence,  and  leaving'  his 
beloved  savages,  entered  the  army  with  his  old  rank  of 
lieutenant,  where  his  bravery  was  so  conspicuous  that 
he  soon  became  a  captain  and  brevet  major,  and  one  of 
Lavalle's  chosen  men.  At  Marquez  the  whole  army 
was  astonished  at  his  daring.  After  these  expeditions 
he  remained  at  Buenos  Ayres  with  Lavalle's  other 
officers,  Arbolito,  Pancho  el  nate,  and  other  chiefs, 
who  displayed  their  bravery  in  coffee-houses  and  hotels. 
The  animosity  against  the  officers  of  the  army  became 
greater  every  day,  and  on  one  occasion  they  were 
drinking  to  the  death  of  Lavalle,  when  Navarro  heard 
them,  and  stepping  up,  poured  out  a  glass  and  drank, 
saying  in  a  loud  voice,  "  To  the  health  of  Lavalle."  A 
duel  followed  on  the  spot,  and  Navarro,  who  killed  his 
man,  fled  from  the  city,  and  overtook  the  army  before 
it  reached  Cordova.  Before  re  entering  the  service,  he 
went  in  the  interior  to  see  his  family,  and  learned  with 
regret  the  death  of  his  wife*  Taking  leave  of  his 
friends,  he  went  back  to  the  army  accompanied  by  two 
young  men  —  his  cousin  and  nephew. 

In  the  battle  of  Chacon  he  got  a  shot  in  his  breast 
which  burned  off  his  beard,  and  blackened  his  face  with 
powder;  and  in  this  condition  he  emigrated  to  Co- 
q.  limbo,  still  accompanied  by  his  young  relatives  ;  but 
every  day  he  felt  a  strong  desire  to  go  back,  and  could 
hardly  be  prevented  from  doing  so.  "  I  am  a  true 
son  of  the  army,"  he  would  say,  "  and  war  is  my  ele- 
ment ;  the  first  drop  of  blood  shed  in  the  civil  war  was 
from  my  veins ;  and  from  them  should  come  the  last." 
At  other  times  he  said,  "I  cannot  go  a  step  farther;  I 
am  getting  farther  and  farther  from  the  epaulets  of  a 

13 


194  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

general.  What  would  my  friends  say  if  they  knew  that 
Major  Navarro  was  treading  a  foreign  soil  without  a 
squad  behind  him  ?  " 

The  day  they  crossed  the  boundary  ridge,  there  was 
quite  a  pathetic  scene.  They  were  obliged  to  give  up 
their  arms,  and  the  Indians  could  not  conceive  of  a 
country  where  one  was  not  permitted  to  go  about  lance 
in  hand.  Navarro  explained  in  their  own  language, 
while  two  great  tears  rolled  down  his  cheeks  ;  they 
then  laid  their  arms  upon  the  ground,  with  much  emo- 
tion, and  even  after  starting  on,  went  back  and  rode 
slowly  around  them  as  if  bidding  them  farewell. 

It  was  in  this  state  of  mind  that  Major  Navarro 
passed  into  Chili,  and  took  up  his  lodging  at  Guanda, 
a  place  situated  at  the  beginning  of  the  road  which 
leads  to  the  cordillera.    There  he  learned  that  General 
Villafane  was  going  back  to  join  Facundo,  and  openly 
announced  his  intention  of  killing  him.   The  emigrants, 
who  knew  what  these  words  meant  coming  from  Na- 
varro, left  the  neighborhood,  after  trying  in  vain  to 
dissuade  him  from  his  purpose.     Villafane  was  warned 
beforehand,  and  asked  protection  from  the  public  au- 
thorities, who  gave  him  some  militia,  by  whom  he  was 
abandoned  as  soon  as  they  learned  what  was  the  trou- 
ble.    But  Villafane  was  well  armed,  and  accompanied 
by  six  natives  of  Rioja.    Just  as  he  was  passing  through 
Guanda,  Navarro  appeared  before  him,   with  only  a 
brook  between  them,  gravely  declared  his  intention, 
and  then  returned  quietly  into  the  house  where  he  was 
breakfasting.     That  night  Villafane  was  so  imprudent 
as  to  lodge  at  Tilo,  a  place  only  about  four  leagues  off. 
In  'the  night  Navarro  armed  himself  and  took  with  him 


Y 

VILLAFAtfE.  195 

a  company  of  nine  men,  whom  he  left  at  a  convenient 
place  near  Tilo.  He  then  approached  by  moonlight, 
entered  the  court-yard,  and  called  out  to  Villafane,  who 
was  sleeping  with  his  men  in  the  corridor,  "  Villafane, 
arise  !  those  who  have  enemies  should  not  sleep."  Vil- 
lafane seized  his  lance,  but  Navarro  attacking  him  with 
his  sword,  ran  him  through  the  body.  He  then  fired 
off  a  pistol,  the  signal  agreed  upon  with  his  companions, 
who  came  up  and  falling  upon  Villafane's  men,  killed 
or  dispersed  them.  They  then  took  horses  and  equip- 
ments and  set  out  for  the  Argentine  Republic  to  join 
the  army.  Mistaking  the  road,  they  found  themselves 
after  a  while  at  Rio  Quarto,  where  they  encountered 
Colonel  Echevarria,  who  was  pursued  by  enemies.  Na- 
varro hastened  to  his  aid,  and  the  horse  of  his  friend 
falling  at  that  moment,  begged  him  to  get  up  behind 
himself;  but  Echevarria  would  not  consent,  and  Na- 
varro, determined  not  to  fly  without  him,  dismounted, 
shot  his  own  horse,  and  both  men  soon  shared  the  same 
fate.  It  was  three  years  before  his  family  knew  what 
had  become  of  him,  the  story  being  told  by  the  men 
who  had  killed  him,  and  who,  by  way  of  proof,  dug  up 
the  skeletons  of  the  two  friends. 

During  Major  Navarro's  short  absence,  events  had 
taken  place  which  entirely  changed  the  condition   of 
public  affairs.     The  famous  capture  of  General  Paz^ 
who  was  caught  at  the  head  of  his  army  by  a  lasso, 
decided  the  fate  of  the  Republic.     It  may  be  said  that 
the  constitution  failed  to  be  established  at  that  time 
through  a  singular  accident ;  for  Paz  with  an  army  of*" 
four  thousand  trained  men,  and  a  wisely  arranged  plair 
of  operations,  was  sure  of  conquering  the  army  of  Bue- 


196  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

nos  Ay  res.  Those  who  have  since  seen  him  triumph- 
ing in  every  direction,  can  judge  if  he  was  very  pre- 
suming to  take  this  conquest  for  granted.  We  might 
chime  in  with  the  moralists  who  so  often  attribute  the 
fall  of  empires  to  the  merest  accidents  ;  but  if  it  was 
an  accident  to  catch  a  great  general  with  a  lasso,  it 
was  not  accidental  that  the  men  who  did  it  should  have 
used  such  means,  being  as  they  were  of  true  gaucho 
nature,  though  converted  into  a  political  element. 

Facundo,  having  so  cruelly  revenged   the  death  of 
General  Villafane,  marched  upon  San  Juan  to  prepare  f 
an  expedition  against  Tucuman,  where  the  army  had  / 
retired  after  the  loss  of  its  general  had  destroyed  all 
hope  of  accomplishing  anything.     On  his  arrival,  all 
the  Federal  citizens  went  out  to  receive  him  as  they   ! 
had  done  in  1827  ;  but  Facundo  was  not  fond  of  repe- 
titions.    He  therefore  sent  one  company  in  advance  of 
the  assembled  citizens,  and  another  behind  them ;  then 
entered  the  city  himself  by  a  different  route,  leaving 
his  officious  hosts  prisoners  in  the  street,  where  they 
passed  the  whole  day  and  night,  lying   down  among 
the  horses'  feet  if  overpowered  with  sleep. 

When  he  reached  the  public  square,  he  stopped  his 
carriage,  put  an  end  to  the  noise  of  the  bells,  and  or- 
dered all  the  furniture  of  the  house  provided  for  him 
by  the  city,  to  be  thrown  into  the  street,  carpets,  cur- 
tains, chairs,  tables,  mirrors,  —  all  heaped  in  confusion 
in  the  middle  of  the  square  ;  nor  would  he  go  in  until 
sure  that  nothing  remained  but  the  bare  walls,  a  little 
table,  a  single  chair,  and  a  bed.  While  this  was  going 
on,  he  called  a  child  who  was  passing  by  his  carriage, 
and  asked  him  what  his  name  was,  and  when  he  an- 


FACUNDO'S  DISCIPLINE.  197 

swered  "  Roza,"  said,  "  Your  father,  Don  Ignacio 
Roza,  was  a  great  man  ;  give  my  compliments  to  your 
mother." 

The  next  day  a  bench  was  prepared  for  the  shooting 
of  his  usual  victims.  Who  were  they  to  be  this  time? 
The  Unitarios  had  fled  in  great  numbers,  and  many 
timid  people  not  Unitarios.  But  Facundo  began  ,to 
impose  contributions  upon  the  women  whose  husbands, 
fathers,  or  brothers  were  absent,  and  the  results  were 
quite  satisfactory,  and  accompanied  by  the  usual  cir- 
cumstances,—  sobs  and  cries  of  women  threatened 
with  the  lash,  some  actually  whipped,  two  or  three 
men  shot,  one  lady  compelled  to  cook  for  the  soldiers, 
and  other  nameless  outrages.  There  was  one  especial 
day  of  horror  to  be  remembered ;  it  was  when  Facundo 
was  about  to  depart  for  Tucuman ;  the  divisions  were 
filing  off  one  after  another,  and  the  muleteers  were 
taking  care  of  the  baggage,  when  a  mule  broke  loose, 
and  in  trying  to  get  away  ran  into  the  church  of  Santa 
Anna.  Facundo  ordered  them  to  catch  it ;  the  mule- 
teer went  in  for  this  purpose,  and  at  the  same  moment 
an  officer,  by  command  of  Quiroga,  entered  on  horse- 
back, tied  both  man  and  mule,  and  brought  them  bound 
together,  the  unfortunate  muleteer  suifering  from  the 
kicks  of  the  animal.  Just  then  it  appeared  that  some- 
thing was  not  quite  ready  for  the  departure,  and  Fa- 
cundo ordered  the  negligent  authorities  before  him. 
His  Excellency  the  Governor  and  Captain  General  of 
the  Province  received  a  buffet,  the  chief  of  police  nar- 
rowly escaped  a  bullet  as  he  ran,  and  all  reached  their 
offices  as  quickly  as  possible  to  give  the  neglected 
orders. 


198  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

I 
A  little  later,  Facundo,  seeing  an  officer  strike  two ' 

soldiers  who  were  fighting,  with  the  flat  of  his  sword, 
called  him  up  and  attacked  him  with  his  lance ;  the 
officer  used  his  own  for  the  defense  of  his  life,  and 
presently  disarmed  Quiroga,  whose  lance  he  Jhen 
picked  up  and  returned  respectfully.  Quiroga  again 
attacked  him ;  there  was  another  encounter,  and.  he 
was  again  disarmed.  He  then  called  six  men,  had  the 
officer  seized,  and  stretched  across  the  window-frame 
with  his  hands  and  feet  tied  fast,  and  ran  him  through 
with  a  lance  again  and  again,  until  life  was  entirely 
extinct.  His  rage  was  without  bounds  ;  General  Hu- 
idobro,  his  second,  was  also  threatened  with  his  lance, 
and  prepared  to  defend  his  life. 

And  yet  Facundo  was  not  cruel  or  blood-thirsty  in 
comparison  with  other  barbarians ;  he  was  only  a  bar- 
barian, who  did  not  know  how  to  restrain  his  passions, 
and  these  once  aroused  were  without  limit,  without 
restraint;  he  was  a  terrorist  who,  on  entering  a  city, 
shoots  one,  and  perhaps  lashes  another,  but  for  *a 
.  reason.  The  person  shot  is  blind,  or  paralyzed ;  the 
unhappy  victim  of  the  lash  is  a  respectable  citizen,  a 
young  man  of  one  of  the  first  families.  His  brutalities 
to  women  come  from  a  want  of  delicacy  ;  the  humilia- 
tions imposed  upon  the  citizens  from  the  coarse  desire 
to  ill-treat  and  to  mortify  the  self-respect  of  those  by 
whom  he  feels  himself  to  be  despised.  It  is  the  same 
motive  which  makes  terror  a  means  of  government. 
What  would  Rosas  have  done  without  it  in  a  society 
like  that  of  Buenos  Ayres  ?  How  else  could  he  have 
commanded  from  an  intelligent  people  that  respect 
which  they  never  willingly  show  for  persons  who  are 


TERROR  A  POWER.  -     199     • 

in  themselves  low  and  contemptible  ?     It  is  incredible' 
what  an  accumulation  of  atrocities  is  necessary  to  per- 
vert a  people,  and  nobody  knows  the  amount  of  close  < 
observation   and  sagacity  employed  by  Don  Manuel 
Rosas  in  order  to  subject  the  city  to  that  magical  influ-   * 
ence  which  destroyed  in  six  years  all  knowledge  of  the 
just  and  the  good ;  which  broke  the  bravest  spirits  and «. 
put  them  under  the  yoke. 

Terror  in  France  in  1793  was  an  effect  and  not  a  x 
means.  Robespierre  did  not  guillotine  nobles  and 
priests  to  create  a  reputation,  nor  to  elevate  himself 
upon  the  heaps  of  the  slain.  He  was  a  stern  man,  who 
believed  that  he  must  remove  from  France  all  her 
aristocratic  members  to  insure  the  object  of  the  rebel- 
lion. "  Our  names,"  said  Dan  ton,  "  will  be  execrated 
by  posterity,  but  we  shall  have  saved  the  Republic." 
With  us,  terror  is  a  method  of  government  invented  to 
crush  out  knowledge,  and  force  men  to  recognize  as  a 
thinking  head,  the  feet  which  are  upon  their  necks  ;  it 
is  the  compensation  an  ignorant  man  in  power  takes 
for  the  contempt  which  he  knows  his  insignificance 
inspires  in  a  people  infinitely  superior  to  him.  This  is 
why  we  have  in  our  times  a  repetition  of  the  extrava- 
gances of  Caligula,  who  caused  himself  to  be  wor- 
shipped as  a  god,  and  associated  his  horse  with  him  in 
the  government.  Caligula  knew  that  he  was  the  very* 
lowest  of  those  Romans  whom  he  nevertheless  held 
under  his  foot.  Rosas  caused  his  sacred  likeness  to  be 
placed  in  the  churches,  and  borne  through  the  streets* . 
on  a  car,  to  which  were  harnessed  officers  and  ev§n 
ladies,  for  the  purpose  of  giving  celebrity  to  his  name. 
But  Facundo  was  only  cruel  when  in  a  passion. »  His. 


200  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

deliberate  acts  were  limited  to  shooting  or  lashing  a 
man.  Rosas,  on  the  contrary,  was  never  in  a  passion. 
He  made  his  plans  in  his  closet,  and  gave  his  orders  to 
his  emissaries. 


CHAPTER   XII. 

SOCIAL    WAR. 

"  Les  habitarits  de  Tucuman  finissent  leurs  journees  par  reunions  champltres,  ou, 
a  1'ombre  de  beaux  arbres,  ils  improvisent,  au  son  d'une  guitare  rustique,  des  chants 
alternatifs  dans  le  genre  de  ceux  que  Th6ocrite  et  Virgile  ont  embellis.  Tout,  jusqu' 
aux  prenoms  grecs,  rappelle  au  voyageur  etonne  1'antique  Arcadie."  —  Malte-Brun. 

CIUDADELA. 

THE  expedition  departed,  and  the  people  of  San  Juan 
breathed  once  more  as  if  awakening  from  a  horrible 
nightmare.  Facundo  displayed  in  this  campaign  a 
spirit  of  order  and  a  rapidity  of  march  which  showed 
how  much  he  had  learned  from  past  disasters.  In 
twenty-four  days  he  passed  over  with  his  army  about 
three  hundred  leagues  ;  so  that  he  came  near  surprising 
some  squadrons  of  the  enemy  which  only  became  aware 
of  his  approach  when  he  took  up  his  quarters  at  Ciuda- 
dela,  an  old  encampment  of  the  patriot  armies  under 
Belgrano.  It  would  be  inconceivable  how  such  an 
army  as  that  commanded  by  Madrid,  at  Tucuman, 
with  brave  officers  and  experienced  soldiers,  could  be 
conquered,  if  moral  causes  and  prejudices  against  strat- 
egy did  not  solve  the  enigma. 

General  Madrid,  commander-in-chief,  had  under  him 
Colonel  Lopez,  a  provincial  leader  from  Tucuman,  who 
was  personally  opposed  to  him  ;  and,  besides  that,  a 
retreat  demoralizes  troops.  General  Madrid  was  not  the 
man  to  govern  inferior  officers.  The  army  went  into 


202  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

battle  half-federal  and  half-montonero  in  spirit,  while 
that  of  Facundo  had  the  unity  produced  by  terror  andi 
obedience  to  a  leader  who  is  not  a  cause  but  a  person,! 
and  who  on  this  account  overcomes  free-will  and  de- 
stroys individuality.    Rosas  triumphed  over  his  enemies 
by  that  power,  which  made  all  his  satellites  passive  in- 
struments and  blind  executors  of  his  supreme  will. 

The  evening  before  the  battle,  Colonel  Balmaceda 
asked  of  the  general-in-chief  permission  to  make  the 
first  charge.  If  it  had  been  allowable  for  a  battle  to 
begin  with  a  cavalry  charge,  or  for  an  inferior  officer 
to  take  the  liberty  of  suggesting  it,  the  battle  would 
have  been  gained  ;  for  nothing  in  Brazil  or  the  Argen- 
tine Republic  had  ever  been  able  to  withstand  the 
charges  of  the  second  regiment  of  cuirassiers.  The 
General  acceded  to  the  demand  of  the  commander  of 
the  second ;  but  Colonel  Lopez  declared  that  this  would 
take  away  some  of  his  best  men  ;  for  to  him  the  select 
troops  had  been  given  in  charge,  which,  according  to 
rule,  form  the  reserve  ;  therefore  the  general-in-chief, 
not  having  sufficient  authority  to  stop  these  disputes, 
sent  back  to  the  reserve  the  invincible  battalion,  and 
the  brave  officer  commanding  it. 

Facundo  deployed  his  men  at  such  a  distance  as  to 
shelter  them  from  the  infantry  commanded  by  Barcala, 
and  to  weaken  the  effect  of  eight  pieces  of  artillery 
directed  by  the  intelligent  Arengreen.  Could  Quiroga 
have  foreseen  what  his  enemies  were  first  doing  ?  In  a 
previous  battle  he  had  shot  his  own  victorious  officer 
for  not  pursuing  with  an  inferior  force  the  defeated 
enemy. 

From  one  end  to  the  other  of  Quiroga's  line  the 


TUCUMAN.  203 

soldiers  trembled  with  terror,  not  of  the  enemy,  butu 
of  their  chief,  who  walked  up  and  down  behind  the 
line,  brandishing  his  lance.  They  could  only  hope  to 
escape  from  this  oppressive  terror  by  throwing  them- 
selves upon  the  enemy.  They  rushed  forward,  broke 
the  line  of  bayonets  merely  to  put  something  between 
them  and  the  image  of  Facundo,  which  pursued  them 
like  a  phantom.  Thus  on  one  side  reigned  terror,  and 
on  the  other  anarchy.  At  the  first  attempt  to  charge, 
the  cavalry  of  Madrid  gave  way,  the  reserve  followed, 
and  there  only  remained  five  officers,  with  the  artillery, 
whose  discharges  became  fainter  and  fainter,  and  the 
infantry,  which  rushed  to  a  hand-in-hand  fight  with 
the  enemy.  But  why  say  more  ?  The  victor  should 
give  the  details  of  a  battle. 

Consternation  reigned  in  Tucuman  ;  immense  num- 
bers emigrated,  for  this  was  Facundo's  third  visit.  The 
following  day  a  contribution  was  levied.  Quiroga, 
knowing  that  there  were  valuables  hidden  in  a  church, 
questioned  the  sacristan,  who,  being  a  silly  fellow,  an- 
swered with  a  laugh,  for  which  he  was  shot  on  the 
spot.  The  chests  of  the  general  were  soon  filled  with 
gold  ;  therefore  it  is  not  strange  that  the  guardian  of 
San  Francisco  and  the  priest  Colombres,  were  the  next 
victims  of  the  lash.  Facundo  then  visited  the  prison- 
ers, counted  out  the  officers,  and  retired  to  rest  after 
his  fatigue,  leaving  orders  for  them  to  be  shot. 

Tucuman  is  a  tropical  country,  where  Nature  has 
displayed  its  greatest  pomp ;  it  is  the  Eden  of  Amer- 
ica, and  without  a  rival  on  the  surface  of  the  earth. 
Imagine  the  Andes  covered  with  a  most  luxuriant 
vegetation,  from  which  escape  twelve  rivers  at  equal 


204  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

distances,  flowing  parallel  to  each  other,  until  they 
converge  and  form  a  navigable  stream,  which  reaches 
to  the  heart  of  South  America.  The  country  watered 
by  these  branches  comprises  more  than  fifty  leagues. 
Primeval  forests  cover  the  surface,  and  unite  the  gor- 
geousness  of  India  with  the  beauties  of  Greece. 

The  walnut  interlaces  its  long  branches  with  the 
mahogany  and  ebony ;  the  cedar  and  the  classic  laurel 
grow  side  by  side,  and  beneath  these  the  myrtle  con- 
secrated to  Venus ;  still  leaving  space  for  the  fragrant 
spikenard  and  the  white  lily. 

A  belt  of  odoriferous  cedar  allows  a  passage  through 
the  forest,  which  is  everywhere  else  impassable  because 
of  the  thick  and  thorny  rose-bushes.  The  old  trunks 
are  covered  with  various  species  of  flowering  mosses, 
and  the  bindweed  and  other  vines  festoon  and  entwine 
all  these  different  trees. 

Over  all  this  vegetation,  which  defies  the  brush  of 
fancy  in  combination  and  richness  of  coloring,  fly  myri- 
ads of  golden  butterflies,  brilliant  humming-birds,  green 
parrots,  blue  magpies,  and  orange-colored  toucans.  The 
sound  of  these  noisy  birds  greets  one  all  day  long  like 
the  roar  of  a  cataract. 

Major  Andrews,  an  English  traveller,  who  has  de- 
voted many  pages  to  the  description  of  these  beauties, 
relates  that  he  used  to  go  out  every  morning  to  enjoy 
the  sight  of  this  magnificent  vegetation,  and  that  he 
often  penetrated  far  into  the  thick,  aromatic  forests,  so 
enraptured  that  only  after  his  return  home  did  he  know 
that  his  clothes  were  torn,  and  his  face  scratched  and 
bleeding.  The  city  is  surrounded  for  many  leagues 
by  a  forest  of  orange-trees,  rounded  to  about  the  same 


TUCUMAN.  205 

height,  so  as  to  form  a  vast  canopy  supported  by  millions 
of  smooth  columns.  The  rays  of  the  torrid  sun  have 
never  shone  upon  the  scenes  which  are  enacted  under 
this  immense  roof.  The  young  girls  of  Tucuman  pass 
the  Sundays  there,  each  group  choosing  a  convenient 
place.  According  to  the  season,  they  gather  fruit  or 
scatter  blossoms  under  the  feet  of  the  dancers,  who  are 
intoxicated  with  the  rich  perfume  and  the  melodious 
sounds  of  the  guitar.  Perhaps  one  might  believe  this 
description  to  be  taken  from  the  "  Thousand  and  One 
Nights,"  or  other  Eastern  fairy  tale ;  but  I  cannot  half 
describe  the  voluptuous  beauty  of  these  damsels,  daugh- 
ters of  the  tropics,  as  they  recline  for  their  siesta  beneath 
the  shade  of  the  myrtles  and  laurels,  enjoying  such 
odors  as  would  bring  asphyxia  upon  one  unaccustomed 
to  the  atmosphere. 

Facundo  went  into  one  of  these  recesses  formed  by 
shady  branches,  perhaps  to  consider  what  he  should  do 
to  the  poor  city  fallen  into  his  hands,  like  a  squirrel 
into  the  paw  of  a  lion.  Presently  a  deputation  of 
young  girls,  radiant  with  youth  and  beauty,  approached 
the  place  where  Facundo  was  lying  upon  his  poncho. 
The  bravest  and  most  eager  led  the  way,  hesitating 
from  time  to  time.  Those  who  followed  urged  her 
forward;  then  all  paused,  seized  with  fear.  They 
glanced  at  one  another  for  encouragement ;  then,  ad- 
vancing timidly,  stood  before  him.  Facundo  received 
them  kindly,  made  them  sit  down  around  him,  and 
asked  the  object  of  their  visit.  They  came  to  beg  for 
the  lives  of  the  officers  who  were  to  be  shot.  Sobs, 
smiles,  all  the  little  fascinations  of  women  were  put 
in  requisition  to  obtain  their  charitable  end.  Facundo 


206  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

seemed  deeply  interested,  and  smiled  benignantly  ;  he 
wished  to  hear  from  each  one,  of  their  families,  their 
homes,  a  thousand  details  which  seemed  to  please  him ; 
and  thus  passed  an  hour  of  expectation  and  hope.  At 
last  he  said  to  them,  with  the  greatest  complacency, 
"  Do  you  hear  those  guns  ?  It  is  too  late  :  they  are 

v,  shot."  -A  cry  of  horror  arose,  like  that  which  escapes 
from  a  flock  of  doves  pursued  by  a  falcon.  They  had 
indeed  been  shot  —  and  how  ?  Thirty-three  officers, 
from  the  rank  of  colonel  upwards,  received  the  fatal 
balls*  entirely  naked.  Two  brothers,  sons  of  one  of  the 
first  families  of  Buenos  Ayers,  embraced  each  other  at 
the  last  moment,  so  that  the  body  of  one  prevented  the 
ball  from  reaching  the  other.  The  latter  cried,  "  I  am 
saved."  A  mistake,  unfortunate  one  !  How  much  he 
would  have  given  to  live.  While  confessing,  he  had 
taken  a  ring  from  his  mouth,  where  it  was  concealed, 
and  had  charged  the  priest  to  give  it  to  his  betrothed ; 

/.who,  on  receiving  it,  lost  her  reason,  and  never  again 
recovered  it. 

The  cavalry  took  charge  of  the  corpses,  and  dragged 
them  to  the  cemetery ;  so  that  bits  of  brain,  arms,  and 
legs  remained  on  the  square  of  Tucuman,  and  served 
as  food  for  the  dogs.  How  many  victories  are  thus 
tarnished ! 

Don  Juan  Manuel  Rosas  had  killed  in  the  same 
manner  and  almost  at  the  same  time,  at  St.  Nicholas 
de  los  Arroyos,  twenty-eight  officers,  not  to  speak  of 
more  than  a  hundred  assassinations.  If  anything  can 

'  add  to  these  horrors,  it  is  the  fate  of  Colonel  Arraya, 
the  father  of  eight  children,  and  a  prisoner,  witk  three 

lance  wounds  in  his  shoulder.     He  was  forced  to  enter 


TUCUMAN.  207 

Tucuman  on  foot,  naked,  bleeding,  and  loaded  with 
eight  guns.  Exhausted  with  fatigue,  a  bed  was  allowed 
him  in  a  private  house.  At  the  hour  appointed  for 
his  execution,  which  was  to  take  place  on  the  public 
square,  some  musketeers  forced  their  way  into  the 
house  and  pierced  him  with  balls  in  his  bed ;  leaving 
him  to  die  in  the  flames  of  the  burning  sheets. 

Colonel  Barcala,  the  celebrated  negro,  was  the  only 
chief  saved  from  this  butchery.  He  was  the  ruling 
spirit  of  Cordova  and  Mendoza,  and  the  civic  guard 
idolized  him.  He  was  an  instrument  that  they  migh^ 
preserve  for  the  future. 

On  the   following  day  a   process  was  commenced 
throughout  the  city,  called  sequestration.     It  consisted 
in  placing  sentinels  at  the  doors  of  all  the  shops,  ware- 
houses, leather  and  tobacco  stores,  tanneries,  indeed 
everywhere,  for  there  were  no  Federals.     Federalism 
is  a  plant  which  grew  there  only  after  the  soil  was  " 
three  times  watered  with  blood  by  Quiroga,  and  once  ; 
more  by  Oribe.    Now  it  is  said  there  are  some  Federals, 
as  is  proved  by  their  ribbon,  upon  which  is  written, 
"  Death  to  the  savage  Unitarios." 

All  movable  property^^iML thejflocksjiid  herds,  were 
claimed  by  Facundo.     Two  hundred  and  fifty  carts^ 
each  loaded  with  sixteen  beeves,  were  sent  to  Buenos 
Ayres.     The  European  goods   were  gathered  to  be 
sold  at  auction  by  the  commanders.     Everything  was  " 
offered  for  a  low  price.     Facundo  himself  sold  shirts,, 
women's  skirts,  and  children's  clothes,  unfolding  and 
showing  them  to  the  crowd;  any  bid  was  received  ;> 
the  sale  was  soon  finished  ;  the  affair  was  a  success,  — 
the  crowd  was  dense. 


208  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

After  a  few  days,  however,  purchasers  were  scarce, 
and  embroidered  handkerchiefs  were  offered  in  vain 
for  four  reales  —  there  was  nobody  to  buy.  What  had 
happened  ?  Did  the  people  repent  ?  Not  at  all ;  but 
there  was  no  longer  any  money  in  circulation.  The 
contributions  on  one  hand,  sequestration  on  the  other, 
the  auction  finally,  had  taken  the  last  medio  in  the 
province.  If  indeed  a  few  still  remained  in  the  hands 
of  the  officials,  the  gaming-table  emptied  their  purses. 
Leather  bags  filled  with  money  were  piled  in  front  of 
the  general's  house,  and  remained  there  all  night  un- 
guarded ;  for  the  passers-by  did  not  even  dare  to  look 
at  them. 

And  yet  the  city  had  not  been  abandoned  to  pillage, 
nor  had  the  soldiers  had  that  immense  booty.  Quiro- 
ga  used  to  say  to  his  friends  in  Buenos  Ayres  that  he 
never  permitted  his  men  to  pillage,  because  of  the  im- 
morality of  the  thing.  A  farmer  once  complained  to 
him  that  some  soldiers  had  stolen  his  fruit,  and  order- 
ing the  regiment  before  him,  he  discovered  the  guilty 
ones,  who  each  received  six  hundred  lashes ;  the  terri- 
fied old  man  begged  that  the  victims  might  be  spared, 
and  was  threatened  with  a  share  of  the  punishment. 
This  is  the  gaucho  nature :  he  kills  because  his  leader 
commands  him  to  kill,  and  does  not  steal  because  he  is 
not  commanded  to  steal.  It  might  seem  strange  that' 
these  men  should  not  rebel  and  throw  off  the  dominion 
'of  one  who  gave  them  nothing  in  exchange  for  their 
valor  or  their  lives,  did  we  not  know  from  Don  Juan 
Manuel  Rosas  how  much  terror  can  do,  not  only  with 
the  poor  gaucho,  but  with  the  illustrious  general  and 
the  proud,  wealthy  citizen.  As  I  have  already  said,' 
terror  produces  greater  results  than  patriotism. 


FACUNDO'S  CRUELTY.  209 

A  colonel  of  the  army  of  Chili,  Don  Manuel  Grego- 
rio  Quiroga,  Federal  ex-governor  of  San  Juan,  and,  at 
that  time,  a  major-general  in  Quiroga's  army,  perceived 
that  this  booty  of  half  a  million  was  destined  for  the 
general  alone,  who  would  not  hesitate  to  box  the  ears 
of  an  officer  for  keeping  a  few  reales  from  the  sale  of  a 
handkerchief.  He  therefore  conceived  the  idea  of  ob- 
taining his  pay  by  abstracting  several  valuable  rings 
from  the  general  stock.  But  Facundo  found  out  the 
theft,  and  had  him  tied  to  a  post  to  be  publicly  humili- 
ated ;  and  when  the  army  returned  to  San  Juan,  the 
major-general  went  on  foot  over  almost  impassable 
ground  yoked  with  a  bull.  The  companion  of  the  bull 
expired  at  Catamarca  without  attracting  any  notice.. 
At  another  time  Facundo,  having  found  out  that  a 
young  man  by  the  name  of  Rodriguez,  of  high  standing 
in  Tucuman,  had  received  letters  from  the  exiles,  had 
him  arrested,  conducted  him  to  the  square  himself, 
tied  him  up,  and  ordered  him  to  receive  six  hundred 
lashes.  But  the  soldiers  did  not  administer  the  pun- 
ishment skillfully  enough,  and  Quiroga  took  the  leather 
straps  used  for  the  purpose,  and  swinging  them  through 
the  air  with  his  mighty  arm,  gave  fifty  lashes  by  way 
of  example.  At  the  end  of  the  performance  he  him- 
self poured  salt  water  over  the  back,  and  picked  off  the 
bits  of  skin  from  the  wounds.  This  done,  he  went 
home  and  read  the  intercepted  letters,  in  which  were 
messages  from  husbands  to  wives,  charges  not  to  be 
uneasy  about  them,  together  with  receipted  bills  for 
merchants,  etc.,  but  not  a  word  of  politics.  Quiroga 
then  asked  for  Rodriguez,  but  hearing  that  he  was 
dying,  sat  <Jown  to  cards,  and  won  immense  sums.  Don 
14 


210  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE    REPUBLIC. 

Francisco  Reto,  and  Don  N.  Lugones,  were  heard 
murmuring  at  the  horrors  they  witnessed,  and  each 
received  three  hundred  lashes,  with  an  order  to  walk 
home  through  the  streets  naked,  their  hands  over  their 
heads,  and  their  backs  dripping  blood ;  armed  soldiers 
following  at  a  little  distance  to  see  the  sentence  duly 
executed.  To  what  a  degree  of  indifference  men  may 
be  brought  by  an  infamous  tyrant  against  whom  there' 
is  no  appeal,  was  shown  by  Don  Lugones,  who,  turning 
to  his  companion  in  punishment,  said,  "  Hand  over  a 
cigar,  and  let's  have  a  smoke." 

Dysentery  prevailed  at  that  time  in  Tucuman,  and 
the  physicians  said  there  was  no  remedy  for  it,  that  it 
came  from  mental  causes,  from  terror,  a  disease  for 
which  no  remedy  has  yet  been  found  in  Buenos  Ayres. 
One  day  Facundo  presented  himself  before  the  house 
of  a  young  widow  who  had  taken  his  fancy,  and  asked 
some  children  who  were  playing  at  the  door,  where 
the  lady  was  ;  one  of  the  boys  answered  that  she  was 
not  in.  "  Go  tell  her  I  am  here,"  said  Quiroga. 
"What  is  your  name  ?"  asked  the  boy,  who,  when  the 
.other  replied,  "  I  am  Facundo  Quiroga,"  fell  down 
senseless,  and  has  only  recently  recovered  his  reason. 

A  young  girl  having  excited  his  admiration,  he  pro- 
»posed  to  take  her  to  San  Juan.  It  can  be  imagined 
how  the  poor  girl  received  this  proposition  from  a  ti- 
ger. Stammeringly  she  said  that  she  could  not ;  that 

her  father .     Facundo  went  to  the  father,  and  the 

miserable  man,  trying  to  conceal  his  horror,  took  cour- 
age to  say  that  perhaps  he  tyould  abandon  his  daughter, 
and  she  would  be  unprotected.  Facundo  declared  that 
he  should  have  no  cause  for  that  objection  ;  and  the 


TYRANNY.  211 

unhappy  father,  still  hoping  to  put  him  off  or  to  gain 
time,  proposed  that  a  paper  should  be  drawn  up  and 
signed  ;  but  Facundo  immediately  wrote  and  signed 
the  required  document,  and  passed  it  to  the  other  for 
his  signature.  At  the  last  moment  the  father  asserted 
himself  in  the  man,  and  he  cried,  "Kill  me!  but  I  will 
not  sign.''  "  Ah,  old  rascal  !  "  cried  Facundo,  leaving 
the  house  in  a  rage. 

Quiroga,  the  champion  of  the  provinces,  as  he  called 
himself,  was  barbarou^  avaricious^.  lustful,  and  gave 
himself  up  to  his  passions  without  restraint  ;  his  suc- 
cessor did  not  rob  cities,  nor  outrage  women  ;  he  had 
only  one  passion,  —  the  thirst  for  human  blood  and  des- 
..pjoiism,  —  Instead,  he  knew  how  to  use  words  and  forms 


which  satisfy  the  indifferent,  such  as  :  the  savages,  the 
bloodthirsty  creatures  ;  perfidious,  wretched  Unitarios  ; 
the  perfidious  minister  of  Brazil  ;  the  dirty  money  of- 
France;  the  iniquitous  claims  of  England;  —  words 
thus  sufficing  to  cover  the  longest  and  most  frightful 
series  of  crimes  that  the  nineteenth  century  has  wit- 
nessed. Rosas  !  Rosas  !  I  bow  before  thy  mighty  wis- 
dom. Thou  art  as  great  as  the  Plata,  as  the  Andes  ! 
Thou  alone  hast  discovered  how  contemptible  are  the 
liberties,  the  knowledge,  and  the  pride  of  mankind: 
Trample  upon  them  all;  let  all  the  governments  of  the 
civilized  world  honor  thee,  the  more  insolent  thou  art. 
Abuse  them  !  thou  wilt  always  find  dogs  to  snatch  up 
the  spoils  thrown  to  them  ! 

In  Tucuman,  Salta,  and  Jujui,  a  great,  progressive, 
industrial  movement  was  interrupted  by  the  invasion 
of  Quiroga.  Dr.  Colombres,  whom  Facundo  loaded 
with  manacles,  had  introduced  and  encouraged  the 


212      -i  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

t 
cultivation  of  sugar-cane,  for  which  the  climate  is  so 

well  adapted.  He  had  bought  plants  from  Havana, 
sent  agents  to  the  mills  of  Brazil  to  study  the  processes 
and  apparatus ;  succeeded  in  distilling  the  molasses ; 
and  did  not  rest  until  ten  mills  were  established  and  in 
successful  operation.  But  this  was  scarcely  accom- 
plished when  Facundo  turned  his  horses  into  the  fields 
of  cane,  and  destroyed  the  mills. 

An  agricultural  society  was  already  publishing  its 
proceedings,  and  preparing  to  attempt  the  cultivation 
of  indigo  and  cochineal.  At  Salta,  looms  and  workmen 
had  been  brought  from  Europe  for  weaving  woolen 
goods,  cloth,  carpets,  etc.,  all  of  which  had  turned  out 
profitably.  But  what  particularly  occupied  the  atten- 
tion of  those  cities  was  the  navigation  of  the  Bermejo, 
the  great  stream  which  flows  between  the  two  prov- 
inces, unites  with  the  Parana,  and  thus  provides  an 
outlet  for  the  valuable  productions  of  that  tropical 
country.  The  future  prosperity  of  those  beautiful 
provinces  depended  upon  turning  their  streams  to  the 
„  uses  of  commerce  ;  from  poor  inland  cities,  with  small 
populations,  their  capitals  might  in  ten  years  be  con- 
verted into  great  centres  of  civilization  and  wealth,  if, 
under  the  protection  of  an  able  government,  their  in-* 
habitants  could  devote  themselves  to  removing  the 
slight  obstacles  in  the  way  of  their  progress.  Nor  are 
these  chimerical  dreams  of  a  possible  but  distant  future/ 
In  North  America,  not  only  hundreds  of  large,  pop- 
ulous cities,  but  even  whole  States  have  sprung  up 
throughout  the  region  watered  by  the  Mississippi  and 
its  branches,  in  less  than  ten  years.  And  the  Missis- 
sippi is  not  more  available  for  commerce,  than  the 


KIVER-NAVIGATION.  213 


Parana  ;  nor  do  the  Ohio,  Illinois,  or  Arkansas  water  a 
larger  or  richer  territory  than  tjje  Pilcomayq,  BermejT), 
Paraguay,  and  so  many  other  great  rivers  which  desig- 
nate the  path  to  be  taken  by  the  people  who  shall  here--- 
after  inhabit  the  Argentine  Republic.  Rivadavia  con- 
sidered the  navigation  of  the  inland  rivers  of  the  great- 
est importance  ;  an  association  was  formed  at  Salta  and 
Buenos  Ayres  with  a  capital  of  half  a  million  dollars  *" 
for  this  purpose,  and  Sala  had  made  his  voyage  and 
published  a  map  of  the  river.  How  much  time  Ijas 
since  been  lost  from  1825  to  1845  !  And  how  long  will 
it  still  be  before  God  shall  destroy  the  monster  of  the 
pampas  ? 

•For  Rosas,  in  so  obstinately  opposing  the  free  naviga- 
tion of  rivers,  in  pretending  to  fear  European  intrusion, 
in  keeping  up  the  hostility  of  the  inland  cities  and  leav- 
ing them  to  their  own  resources,  does  not  simply  obey 
the  instinctive  prejudice  against  foreigners,  nor  even  * 
the  impulse  of  the  ignorant  native  of  the  port  who, 
possessing  the  seaport  and  the  general  custom-house,  : 
of  the  Republic,  does  not  care  for  the  development  of 
civilization  and  wealth  of  the  whole  nation,  or  see  that 
this  would  fill  the  harbor  with  ships  bearing  the  prod-  < 
ucts  of  the  interior,  and  the  custom-house  with  mer- 
chandise.    He  follows,  rather,  the  natural  instinct  of* 
the  gaucho  of  the  pampas,*  who  has  a  horror  of  water,  *• 
a  contempt  for  ships,  and  knows  no  greater  delight 
than   riding  a   good  horse.     What  does  he  care  for   J 
mulberry-trees,  sugar,  indigo,  the  navigation  of  rivers,  * 
European  immigration,  or  anything  beyond  the  narrow   x 
circle  of  ideas  in  which  he  has  lived  ?     What  cjoes  he* 
care  for  the  progress  of  the  interior  when  he  hfinself •  A 


214  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

is  in  the  midst  of  wealth,  possessing  a  custom-house 
which  brings  in  two  millions  a  year  without  any  trouhje 
on  his  part  ? 

Salta,  Jujui,  Tucuman,  Santa  Fe,  Corrientes,  and; 
Entre  Ri6s,  would  now  rival  Buenos  Ayres  if  the  in- 
dustrial movement  so  eagerly  begun,  could  have  con- 
tinued. As  it  is,  some  of  its  results  remain  :  Tucumari 
now  has  large  sugar-presses,  and  distilleries,  which 
would  bring  great  wealth  if  the  products  could  be 
carried  with  less  expense  to  the  coast  and  exchanged 
in  Buenos  Ayres  for  merchandise.  Kut  no  evils  are 
eternal,  and  a  day  must  come  when  the  eyes  of  this 
people  will  be  opened,  who  are  now  denied  all  liberty 
of  progress,  and  are  deprived  of  all  capable  and  intelli- 
gent men,  who  could  carry  on  the  great  work,  and  bring 
about  in  a  few  years  the  prosperity  for  which  Nature 
has  destined  this  now  stationary,  impoverished,  devagj- 
tated  country.  Why  are  such  men  persecuted?  Brave, 
enterprising  men,  who  employed  their  lives  in  various 
social  improvements,  encouraging  public  education, 
introducing  the  cultivation  of  the  mulberry  and  the 
sugar-cane,  exploring  the  water-courses,  with  only  the 
national  interest  at  heart,  and  desiring  no  other  reward 
than  the  satisfaction  of  serving  their  fellow-citizens  ! 
Why  do  we  not  see  again  arising  the  spirit  of  European 
civilization  which,  however  feeble,  did  once  exist  in  the 
Argentine  Republic  ?  Why  has  the  present  govern- 
ment —  more  truly  Unitarios  in  spirit  than  ever  Riva- 
davia  intended — never  given  a  thought  to  the  investi- 
gation of  the  inexhaustible  and  yet  untouched  resources 
of  a  favored  soil  ?  Why  has  not  even  a  twentieth  part 
of  the  millions  employed  in  a  fratricidal  war  been  used 


PERSECUTION.  215 

to  educate  the  people  or  to  facilitate  trade  ?  A^hat  .has 
been  given  to  this  people  in  exchange  for  its  sacrifices 
and  sufferings  ?  A  red  rag !  This  is  the  extent  of  the 
government's  care  of  them  for  fifteen  years  ;  this  is  the 
only  measure  of  the  national  administration  ;  the  only 
relation  between  master  and  slave,  the  mark  upon  the 
cattle ! 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

BARRANCA. YACO  !  ! ! 

"The  fire  which  burnt  Albania  so  long  was  at  last  extinguished.  All  the  red 
blood  has  flowed,  and  the  tears  of  our  children  have  been  wiped  away.  Now  we 
hold  the  cord  of  federation  and  friendship."  —CoWen's  History  of  the  Six  Nations. 

^  THE  conqueror  of  Ciudedala  had  driven  the  last  sup- 
porters of  the  Unitario  system  beyond  the  confines  of 
the  Republic.  The  guns  were  hushed,  and  the  tramp 
of  cavalry  was  no  longer  heard  on  the  pampas.  Fa- 
cundo  returned  to  San  Juan,  and  disbanded  his  army; 
btit  he  restored  the  nominal  value  of  what  money  he 
had  taken  from  San  Juan  by  the  spoils  of  Tucuman. 
What  more  was  there  to  do  ?  Peace  was  then  the 
normal  condition  of  the  Republic,  as  war  had  been 
before. 

The  conquests  of  Quiroga  had  destroyed  all  feeling 
of  independence  in  the  provinces,  all  regularity  of  ad- 
ministration. Liberty  had  ceased,  and  Quiroga's  name 
took  the  place  of  law.  In  this  portion  of  the  Republic 
all  leaders  were  united  in  one,  and  Jujui,  Salta,  Cata- 
marca,  Tucuman,  Rioja,  San  Juan,  and  Mendoza,  re- 
mained under  the  sole  influence  of  Quiroga.  In  a 
.word,  the  Federals  had  disappeared  as  well  as  the  Uni- 
tarios,  and  the  most  complete  unity  existed  in  the  per- 
son of  the  conqueror.  Thus  the  undivided  organiza- 
tion of  the  Republic  which  Rivadavia  had  attempted, 


IDEA  OF  GOVERNMENT.  217 

j 

and  which  had  occasioned  the  contest,  was  realized  inf 
the  interior  at  least,  unless  we  can  admit  the  existence 
of  a  confederation  of  cities  which  have  lost  all  free  will, 
and  are  at  the  mercy  of  a  single  leader.  But  in  spite 
of  the  misapplication  of  common  terms,  the  facts  are 
too  plain  to  be  d9ubted.  Facundo  even  spoke  con- 
temptuously of  the  much  talked-of  Confederation ;  pro- 
posed to  his  friends  that  they  should  choose  a  provin- 
cial for  President  of  the  Republic,  and  suggested  Dr. 
Jose*  Santos  Ortez,  ex-governor  of  San  Luis,  his  own, 
friend  and  secretary.  "  He  is  not  a  rough  gaucho  like 
myself,"  he  said,  "but  a  scholar  and  an  honest  man^ 
the  man  who  knows  how  to  do  justice  to  his  enemies, 
is  worthy  of  confidence." 

Thus  it  appears  that  Quiroga,  after  routing  the  Uni- 
tarios,  went  back  to  the  old  idea  he  entertained  before 
.  the  struggle  —  the  advocacy  of  a  presidency  and  the. 
necessity  of  putting  in  order  the  affairs  of  the  Repub-% 
lie.  Yet  some  doubts  troubled  him.  "  Now,  general," 
some  one  said  to  him,  "  the  nation  will  be  governed  by 
Federal  principles."  "  Hum,"  he  answered,  shaking 
Bis  head,  "  there  are  still  some  obstacles  in  the  way," 
and  he  added,  with  a  significant  look,  "  our  friends 
below  (Buenos  Ayres)  do  not  wish  for  a  constitution." 
When  communications  from  Buenos  Ayres  came,  and 
journals  which  gave  the  promotions  of  various  officers 
who  had  commanded  in  the  useless  army  of  Cordova, 
Quiroga  said  to  General  Huidobro,  "  You  see  they 
have  no  titles  to  bestow  upon  my  officers  after  all  we 
have  done  here  ;  we  should  belong  to  the  port,  to  get 
anything."  Knowing  that  Lopez  was  in  possession  of' 
his  Arabian  horse,  and  did  not  send  it  to  him,  he  was 


21,8  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

very  angry,  and  exclaimed,  "  Ah,  gaucho-stealer  of 
cows,  you  will  pay  dearly  for  the  pleasure  of  being 
well  mounted !  "  And  he  continued  his  threats  and 
abuse  until  his  friends  were  alarmed  at  his  indiscretion. 
What  did  Quiroga  intend  to  do  now  ?  He  was  gov- 

,  ernor  of  no  province,  and  had  no  army  under  his  com- 
mand ;  nothing  remained  to  him  but  his  arms  and  the 
terror  of  his  name.  On  his  way  to  Bioja  he  had  left 

'  hidden  in  the  woods  all  the  guns,  swords,  and  lances 
which  he  had  collected  in  the  eight  cities  he  had  over-, 
run,  numbering  more  than  twelve  thousand.  He  de- 
posited in  the  city  twenty-six  pieces  of  artillery,  with 
plenty  of  baggage  and  ammunition,  and  moreover  he 
had  sixteen  hundred  fine  horses  at  pasture  in  the 
ravines  of  Cuyo.  K-ioja  was  the  cradle  of  his  power, 
the  very  centre  of  his  influence  in  the  provinces  ;  at  a 
signal  its  arsenal  would  equip  twelve  thousand  men 
for  war.  Some  may  incline  to  doubt  these  facts,  but 
even  as  late  as  1841  arms  were  dug  up  that  had  been 
concealed  at  that  time.  In  1830  General  Madrid  took 
possession  of  a  treasure  of  thirty  thousand  dollars  be- 
longing to  Quiroga,  and  soon  after  it  was  said  that 
^  fifteen  more  had  been  found.  Quiroga  wrote  to  him 
charging  him  with  having  taken  thirty-nine  thousand 
dollars  ;  and  doubtless  much  more  had  been  buried 
oefore  the  battle  at  Oncativo,  during  the  time  when 
so -many  cities  were  despoiled.  As  to  the  real  amount 
concealed  in  those  two  parcels,  Madrid  afterwards 
thought  that  Quiroga  gave  it  rightly,  for  the  discoverer 
of  the  last  parcel,  having  been  taken  prisoner,  offered 

•   ten  thousand  dollars  for  his  life,  and  when  this  was  not 
accepted,  committed  suicide  by  cutting  his  throat. 


ROSAS  GOVERNOR  OF  BUEXOS  AYRES.     2-19 


Thus  the  interior  had  now  a  chief;  he  who  had 
conquered  at  Oncativo,  and  who  had  in  Buenos  Ayres  ~ 
only  been  entrusted  with  a  few  .hundred  convicts,  was 
now  the  second,  if  not  the  first  in  power.     To  make 
the  division  of  the  Republic  into  two  parts  more  decided; 
the  provinces  bordering  on  the  Plata  had  made  a  league 
or  confederation  by  which  their  liberties  and  independ- 
ence were  mutually  assured;  though  a  certain  kind  of 
feudalism  still  existed  in  the  persons  of  Lopez  of  Santa  . 
F£,  Ferre*,  and  Rosas,  —  leaders  sprung  from  the  people 
whom  they  governed.     Rosas  had  already  begun   to 
influence   public  affairs   very   decidedly.      After   the 
victory  over  Lavalle,  he  was  made  governor  of  Buenos 
Ayres,  and  until  1832  filled  the  office  as  well  as  any 
other  would  have  dxme.     I  must  not  omit  a  significant 
fact.     From  the  first,  Rosas  demanded  to  be  invested 
with  absolute  power,  but  was  strongly  opposed  by  his 
partisans  in  the  city.     By  persuasions  and  deceptions 
he  succeeded  in  obtaining  it  during  the  war  of  Cordo- 
va, and  when  that  was  ended,  he  was  eagerly  desired 
to  give  up  this  unlimited  power.     The  city  of  Bueno~s 
Ayres  did  not  then  imagine  that  it  could  exist  as  an 
absolute  government,  whatever   the    principles  of  its' 
political   parties  might  be.     Rosas,  however,  resisted, 
gently  but  ably.     "It  is  not  that  I  wish  to  make  use' 
of  such  power,"  he  said,  "  but,  as  my  secretary,  Gar-  * 
cia  Zuiliga,  says,  the  schoolmaster  must  hold  his  whip 
in  hand  that  his  authority  may  be  respected."     He 
considered  this  comparison   entirely  appropriate,  and* 
repeated  it  frequently,  —  the  citizens  were  the  childreta,  *, 
the  governor,  man  and  master. 

Rosas  was  obliged  to  yield  ;  but  the  ex-governor  had 


220  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

no  intention  of  becoming  a  mere  citizen  ;  the  labor  and 
patience  of  many  years  were  about  to  bring  their  re- 
ward. During  his  legal  term  of  service  he  learned  all 
the  entrances  to  the  ckadel,  and  all  the  ill-fortified 

'points  ;  and  if  he  then  left  the  government,  it  was  only 
jto  take  it  by  assault  from  the  outside,  without  any 
constitutional  restrictions,  without  being  fettered  by 
responsibility  to  any  one.  He  laid  down  the  truncheon 
to  take  up  first  the  sword,  and  afterward  the  battle-axe. 
Not  long  before  he  resigned  the  government,  a  great 

•  expedition,  led  by  himself,  was  prepared  to  extend  and 
protect  the  southern  boundaries  of  the  province  which 
were  exposed  to  frequent  invasions  of  the  savages^ 
Everything  was  arranged  on  a  large  scale  :  an  army 
composed  of  three  divisions  was  to  form  a  line  of  four 
hundred  leagues,  from  Buenos  Ayres  to  Mendoza. 
Quiroga  was  to  command  the  forces  of  the  interior, 
while  Rosas,  with  his  division,  followed  the  Atlantifc 
coast.  The  magnificence  and  utility  of  the  enterprise 
concealed  from  the  eyes  of  the  people  the  political 
manoeuvre  hidden  under  this  plausible  pretext.  For' 
what  could  be  more  desirable  than  to  secure  the  south- 
ern frontier  by  making  a  large  river  the  boundary 
between  it  and  the  Indians,  and  protecting  it  with  a 
line  of  forts  ;  a  very  practicable  design,  which  had 
already  been  clearly  marked  out  in  the  voyage  of  Cruz 
from  the  city  of  Conception,  in  Chili. 

But  Rosas  had  no  idea  of  engaging  in  any  enterprise | 

>  which  tended  only  toward  the  good  of  the  Republic. 
His  troops  marched  as  far  as  Rio  Colorado,  moving 
slowly,  and  making  observations  on  the  soil,  climate, 
and  pther  Circumstances  of  the  country  through  which 


ROSAS  AND  FACUNDO.  221  ' 

they  passed.  They  destroyed  some  Indian  huts,  and  f 
took  a  few  poor  prisoners ;  and  this  was  all  that  was 
effected  by  the  great  expedition,  which  left  the  frontier 
as  defenseless  as  it  had  been  before,  and  is  still.  The 
divisions  of  Mendoza  and  San  Luis  returned  equally 
unsuccessful  from  the  deserts  of  the  south.  Rosas 
then  raised  for  the  first  time  his  red  flag,  like  that  of 
Algiers,  and  assumed  the  title  of  Hero  of  the  Desert,  in 
addition  to  that  already  acquired,  of  Restorer  of  the 
Laws  —  those  same  laws  which  he  was  now  about  to , 
destroy. 

1  Facundo,  too  keen  to  be  deceived  as  to  the  object  of 
the  expedition,  remained  at  San  Juaif  until  the  divis- 
ions of  the  interior  returned.    The  division  commanded     * 
by  Huidobro,  which  had  been  in  the  desert  opposite 
San  Luis,  marched  towards  Cordova,  and  its  approach 
put  a  stop  to  a  rebellion  headed  by  the  Castillos,  the 
object  of  which  was  to  take  the  government  from  the 
Reinafes  who  were  under  the  influence  of  Lopez.  This 
rebellion  was  evidently  gotten  up  at  the  instigation  of 
Facundo;  its  leaders  were  from  San  Juan,  the  residence    > 
of  Quiroga,  and  their  supporters  were  his  well-known 
partisans.      The  journals  of  the  time,  however,   say 
nothing  about  Facundo's  connection  with  that  move- 
ment ;  and  when  Huidobro  retired  to  his  provincial    ^ 
home,  and  Arridondo,  with   other  leaders  of  the  -re- 
bellion, was  shot,  there  was  nothing  more  to  be  said  or  ^ 
done  ;  for  the  war  about  to  begin   between  the  two 
parties  of  the  Republic,  between  the  two  leaders  who 
were  contending  for  supremacy,  was  to  be  a^war  of 
ambuscades,   snares,  and  treachery.     It  was  a  silent*    . 
combat ;    not  a  trial  of  strength  between  armies,  but 


222  LIFE  IN   THE    ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

between  audacity  on  one  side,  and  skill  and  cunning  on 
the  other.  This  struggle  Jbet ween  ^|roga_and__ Rosas 
is  but  little  understood,  though  it  lasted  five  years. 
Each  -lifted  and  despised  the  other,  and  neither  lost 
sight  of  the  other  for  a  moment,  for  each  felt  that  his 
life  and  success  depended  on  the  result  of  this  terrible 
game. 

Perhaps  it  will  be  well  to  make  a  political  chart  of 
the  Republic  from  1822,  that  the  reader  may  better 
.comprehend  the  following  operations. 

ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC.  '  i 

Region  of  the  Andes.  Borders  of  the  Plata. 


UNITY  — UNDER   THE    INFLUENCE 

OF  QUIROGA. 

Jujui,  Rioja, 

SaJta,  San  Juan, 

Tucuman,  Mendoza, 

Catamarca,  San  Luis. 


CONFEDERATION     UNDER     THE 
LEAGUE_OE  THE  PLATA. 

Corrientes,  —  Ferre. 

Entre  Rios, ) 
Santa  Fe,    >•  Lopez. 
Cordova,     ) 
Buenos  Ayres,  —  Rosas. 


FEUDAL  FACTION. 
Santiago  del  Estero,  —  Ibarra. 

Lopez,  of  Santa  Fe*,  extended  his  influence  by  means 
of  Echague,  a  creature  of  his,  and  over  Cordova  through 
the  Reinafe*s.  Ferre*,  a  man  of  independent  spirit,  kept 
Corrientes  out  of  the  struggle  until  1839.  Under  the 
rule  of  Beron  de  Astrada,  that  province  turned  against 
Rosas,  who,  with  his  increase  of  power,  had  regarded 
the  League  as  of  no  effect.  This  same  Ferre*  was  led 
by  his  narrow  provincial  spirit  to  denounce  Lavalle  as 
a  deserter  in  1840,  for  having  crossed  the  Parana  with 
the  army  of  Corrientes  ;  and  after  the  battle  of  Chaa- 
guazu  he  took  the  victorious  army  from  General  Paz, 


FACUNDO  AT  BUENOS  AYRRS.    .     223 

thus  losing  the  important  advantages  which  might" have* 
been  secured  by  that  victory.  Ferre*  in  these  proceed- 
ings and  others,  was  actuated  by  the  spirit  of  provin- 
cial independence  which  had  grown  up  during  the  war 
with  Spain.  Thus  the  same  feeling  which  had  thrown 
Corrientes  into  opposition  to  the  Unitario  constitution 
in  1826,  made  it  in  1838  oppose  Rosas3  who  was  at- 
tempting a  centralization  of  power.  Thence  came 
Ferre's  mistakes,  an4  the  misfortunes  which  followed 
the  battle  of  Chaaguazu,  making  it  of  no  use  to  the 
Republic,  the  general,  or  the  province  itself;  for  if  the- 
rest  of  the  Republic  should  be  consolidated  under 
Rosas,  Corrientes  could  not  maintain  its  feudal  and 
federal  independence. 

The  southern  expedition  being  ended,  or  rather 
stopped,  for  it  had  neither  plan  nor  end,  Facundo 
marched  to  Buenos  Ayres  with  Barcala  and  his  chosen 
band,  and  entered  the  city  without  taking  the  trouble 
to  announce  his  arrival.  Such  neglect  of  ordinary 
forms  might  be  commented  upon  were  it  not  entirely, 
characteristic.  What  brought  Quiroga  to  Buenos 
Ayres  at  this  time  ?  Was  it  another  invasion  like  that 
of  Mendoza  in  the  very  stronghold  of  his  rival  ?  Or 
did  this  barbarian  at  last  desire  to  live  amidst  the  luxu- 
ries of  civilization  ?  It  is  probable  that  all  these  causes 
urged  Facundo  to  his  ill-advised  journey  to  Bu£nos 
Ayres.  Power  instructs,  and  Quiroga  had  all  the  high 
qualities  of  mind  which  enable  a  man  to  adapt  himself 
to  any  new  position,  whatever  it  may  be.  He  estab- 
lished himself  in  Buenos  Ayres,  and  was  soon  sur- 
rounded by  the  principal  men  of  the  place ;  he  bought 
shares  in  the  public  funds  to  the  amount  of  six  hundred 


224  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

thousand  dollars  :    played  for  various    stakes ;    spoke  's 
contemptuously  of  Rosas  ;  declared  himself  a  Unitariq 
among  Unitarios,  and  talked  continually  about  the  con^/ 
stitution.     His    past   life,   his    barbarous    deeds,    little 
.known  at  Buenos  Ayres,  were  explained  and  excused 
,  by  the  desire  of  conquest,  and  the  necessity  of  self- 
preservation.     His  present  conduct  was  temperate,  his 
manner  dignified  and  imposing,  though  he  still  wore 
the  chaqueta,  the  striped  poncho,  and  long  hair  and* 
beard. 

During  his  residence  at  Buenos  Ayres,  Quiroga  made 
some  trials  of  his  personal  strength.  As  he  was  walk- 
ing, wrapped  up  as  usual  in  his  poncho,  he  [saw  a  man 
with  his  knife  drawn,  refusing  to  yield  to  a  policeman  ; 
and  seizing  the  fellow,  disarmed  him,  and  carried  him 
to  the  station  ;  he  had  not  given  the  policeman  his 
name,  but  was  recognized  at  the  station  by  an  officer, 
and  next  day  the  papers  all  related  the  story.  He 
heard  one  day  that  an  apothecary  had  spoken  contemp- 
tuously of  his  barbarity  in  the  provinces,  and  went  to 
his  office  to  inquire  about  it,  but  this  time  was  not  very 
successful ;  the  physician,  nothing  daunted,  told  him 
that  he  would  not  be  able  to  ill-treat  people  in  Buenos 
Ayres  as  he  had  done  in  the  provinces,  and  the  story 
was  circulated  with  great  satisfaction  in  the  city.  Yet 
this  Buenos  Ayres,  so  proud  of  its  institutions,  was, 
before  the  end  of  a  year,  to  be  treated  with  greater 
barbarity  than  the  interior  had  ever  received  at  the 
hands  of  Quiroga.  The  police  once  went  to  Quiroga's 
house  in  search  of  him,  and  he  overcame  his  first  im- 
pulse to  defend  himself,  feeling  that  there  was  a  greater 
power  than  his,  and  that  he  might  at  any  time  be  im- 


FACUNDO'S  NEW  PLANS.  225 

prisoned  should  he  take  his  defense  into  his  own  hands. 
Qniroga's  sons  were  in  the  best  schools,  and  he  made 
them  wear  the  European  dress  ;  and  when  one  of  them 
insisted  on  leaving  his  studies  for  the  army,  he  was 
placed  by  his  father  in  one  of  the  regiments  as  drum- 
mer, until  he  should  repent  of  his  folly. 

Quiroga  used  to  declare  that  the  only  writers  gopd 
for  anything  were  the  Varelas,  who  had  abused  him  so 
much,  and  that  the  only  honest  men  in  the  Republic 
were  Rivadavia  and  Paz.  To  the  Unitarios  he  said 
that  he  only  wanted  a  secretary  like  Dr.  Ocampo,  —  a 
politician  who  could  write  out  a  constitution,  and  he* 
would  march  with  it  to  San  Luis,  and  thencejshow  if 
to  the  whole  Republic  at  the  point  of  a  lance.  Quiroga 
represented  himself  as  the  leader  of  a  new  attempt  to 
organize  the  Republic,  and  he  might  be  said  to  have 
conspired  openly  had  he  done  more  than  talk.  His 
natural  habit  of  idleness,  and  of  expecting  everything 
from  terror,  and  perhaps  the  novelty  of  surrounding 
circumstances,  prevented  him  from  acting  with  energy, 
and  at  last  put  him  in  the  power  of  his  rival.  There 
is  no  proof  that  Quiroga  proposed  any  immediate  action, 
unless  it  be  found  in  his  understanding  with  the  gov- 
ernors of  the  interior,  and  his  indiscreet  words,  repeated 
by  both  parties,  though  the  Unitarios  did  not  dare  to 
trust  their  cause  to  such  hands,  and  the  Federals  looked 
upon  him  as  a  deserter  from  their  ranks. 

While  he  thus  gave  himself  up  to  dangerous  indo-* 
lence,  the  serpent  which  was  to  crush  him  in  its  folds, 
drew  nearer  and  nearer.  In  tjie  year  1833,  Rosas, 
while  nominally  occupied  with  the  great  expedition, 
kept  his  army  in  the  south,  and  narrowly  watched 

15 


226  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

Buenos  Ayres  and  the  progress  of  Balcarce's  govern- 
'ment.  The  province  of  Buenos  Ayres  soon  presented  - 
a  most  singular  spectacle.  Imagine  what  would  hap- 
pen if  a  large  comet  should  approach  the  earth  :  first 
a  general  disturbance,  then  deep,  far-off  rumblings, 
then  oscillations  of  the  earth  attracted  from  its  orbit, 
then"  a  mighty  convulsion  followed  by  the  upheaval  of 
mountains,  and  finally  the  deluge  and  chaos  that  have . 
preceded  the  successive  creations  on  our  globe.  Such 
"was  the  influence  exerted  by  Rosas  in  1834.  The  gov- 
ernment of  Buenos  Ayres  became  more  and  more 
restricted,  more  embarrassed  in'  its  movement,  more 
dependent  on  the  "hero  of  the  desert."  Every  commu- 
nication from  him  was  a  reproach  to  the  governor,  ex- 
orbitant requisitions  for  the  army  or  some  unprece- 
dented demand.  Soon  the  civil  authorities  lost  all 
influence  over  the  country  population,  and  complaint 
was  made  to  Rosas,  who  4was  supposed  to  control  the 
peasantry  ;  but  in  a  short  time  the  same  disregard  of 
authority  spread  rapidly  over  the  city  itself,  until  it 
became  no  uncommon  thing  for  armed  men  to  ride 
through  the  .streets,  now  and  then  firing  upon  the  citi- 
zens. This  ^disorganization  of  society  increased  daily, 
and  it  was  not  difficult  to  trace  an  influence  from  the 
camp  of  Rosas  to  the  country  districts,  — from  these 
to  the  suburbs  of  the  city,  and  thence  to  a  certain  class_ 
of  men  within  the  city.  The  government  of  Balcarce  > 
succumbed  to  this  power  from  without,  and  the  parti- 
sans of  Rosas  worked  hard  to  open  the  way  for  him, 
bu^  the  Federal  party  of  the  city  made  constant  oppo- 
sition/ The  chamber  of  representatives  assembled  in 
the  midst  of  the  confusion  caused  by  the  resignation 


FAfcUNDO'S  SECRET  OPPOSITION  TO  ROSAS.       227 

of  Bal</arce,   and   chose   General  Viamont  governor, 
who  readily  accepted  the  office. 

F$*r  a  short  time  order  seemed  to  be  reestablished?,' 
and  the  city  once  more  breathed  freely,  but  soon  the 
sarne  confusion  began  again,  and  the  same  outrages 
w  ere  committed  in  the  streets.  It  is  impossible  to 
describe  the  state  of  constant  alarm  in  which  the  peo- 
ple lived  during  two  years  of  this  strange  and  syste- 
matic persecution.  Frequently,  without  any  apparent 
cause,  people  were  seen  running  through  the  streets, 
the  noise  of  closing  doors  was  heard  from  house  to 
house ;  some  whisper  had  passed  around  —  some  ope 
had  observed  a  suspicious  looking  group  of  men,  or 
the  clatter  of  hoofs  had  been  heard. 

On  one  of  these  occasions  Quiroga  was  passing  by 
a  street,  and  seeing  well-dressed  men  running  without 
knowing  for  what,  he  looked  contemptuously  at  a  group 
of  armed  ruffians,  and  said,  "  It  would  not  have  been 
so,  had  1  been  here." 

"  And  what  would  you  have  done,  general  ?"  asked 
his  companion,  "  you  have  no  influence  over  these 
people." 

Quiroga  raised  his  head,  and  with  flashing  eyes,  an- 
swered, "  Look  you,  if  I  should  go  into  the  street,  and 
say  to  the  first  man  I  met,  '  Follow  me,'  would  he  not 
follow  ?  " 

There  was  such  an  overpowering  energy  in  Quiroga's 
words,  and  his  figure  was  so  imposing,  that  they  rarely 
failed  to  impress  strongly. 

General  Viamont  resigned  at  last,  because  he  saw 
that  he  could  not  govern  ;  that  there  was  a  powerful 
hand  holding  the  reins  of  the  administration  ;  aijd  no' 


228  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLICS":  1 

one  could  be  found  to  succeed  him,  none  dared'  accept 
the   office.      After   awhile,   however,  Dr.   Maz^   was 
placed  at  the  head  of  the  government,  and  as  lie4- was 
the  old  master  and  friend  of  Rosas,  it  was  hoped  thr.t  a 
remedy  had  been  found  for  the  evil.     A  vain  hopi 
for  the  distress  increased  rather  than  diminished.    An  -^ 
chorena  petitioned  the  governor  to  repress  the  social 
disorders,  knowing  that  this  was  not  in  his  power,  that 
the  police  force  would  not  obey  ;  that  the  real  power 
came  from  without. 

General  Guido  and  Dr.  Alcorta,  in  the  chamber  of 
representatives,  earnestly  protested  against  the  violent 
commotion  in  which  the  city  was  kept,  but  the  evil  still 
increased,  and  to  aggravate  it,  Rosas,  from  his  camp, 
reproached  the  governor  with  the  disorders  which  he 
himself  had  fomented.  Finally  a  committee  of  repre-,  I 
sentatives  went  to  offer  him  the  government,  saying  I 
that  he  alone  could  put  an  end  to  the  suffering  which  I 
they  had  endured  for  two  years.  But  Rosas  refused,  I 
and  then  there  were  new  commissions,  and  new  per-  I 
suasions,  until  Rosas  consented  to  do  the  people  the  I 
favor  of  governing  them,  on  condition  that  the  legal 
term  of  three  years  should  be  extended  to  five  years, 
and  that  the  "  highest  public  power  "  should  be  given' 
him  ;  an  expression  invented  by  himself,  he  alone  un- 
derstanding its  meaning. 

s  '  In  the  midst  of  these  arrangements  between  Rosas 
and  the  city  of  Buenos  Ayres,  news  came  of  a  difficulty 
between  the  governors  of  Salta,  Tucuman,  and  Santi- 
ago del  Estero,  which  might  result  in  war.  Five  years 
had  passed  since  the  Unitarios  disappeared  from  the 
political  world,  and  two  since  the  city  Federals  had  lost 


ACUNDO'S  PRESENTIMENTS.  229 

their  ir«fliu-'nre  in  tlie  government,  but  had  courage  to 
exact  conditions  which  made  capitulation  tolerable.. 
\Vhi1e  ^1(  *kdty"  surrendered  at  discretion,  with  its 
jnstitutions,  its  liberties,  etc.,  Rosas  was  carrying  ,oA 
CPmplicated  machinations  outside.  He  was  evidently 
jii  communication  with  Lopez  of  Santa  FC*,  and  there 
was  even  a  conference  between  the  two  leaders.  The 
^^Hmment  of  Cordova  was  under  the  influence  of 
.Lopez,  who  had  placed  the  Reinafds  at  its  head.  Fa-^ 
lUmdo  was  now  invited  to  go  and  use  his  influence  to 
ttle  the  difficulties  which  had  arisen  in  the  northern* 
art  of  the  Republic,  no  one  else  being  chosen  to  aid 
im  in  this  mission  of  peace.  He  refused  at  first,  then 
esitated,  and  finally  accepted. 

It  was  on 'the  18th  of  December,  in  1835,  that  Fa- 
do  took  leave  of  the  city,  saying  to  his  friends,  "  If 
succeed,  you  will  see  me  again,  if  not,  farewell  for- 
er."  At  the  last  moment  this  intrepid  man  was 
iled  by  dark  presentiments  ;  it  will  be  remembered 
at  something  similar  happened  to  Napoleon  when  he 
s  leaving  the  Tuilleries  for  Waterloo. 
He  had  scarcely  made  half  a  day's  journey  when  a 
Buddy  brook  stopped  his  carriage.  The  travelling  at- 
^•idant  came  up  and  tried  to  get  it  over  ;  new  horses 
Bre.put  in,  and  every  effort  made  to  move  the  car- 
Hge,  but  in  vain,  and  Quiroga  falling  into  a  rage, 
^Bered  the  man  himself  to  be  harnessed  to  the  vehi-r 
cle.  1 1  is  brutality  and  terrorism  appeared  again  as 
'soon  as  he  found  himself  without  the  city.  This  first 
Ktacle  being  overcome,  he  went  on  across  the  pampas, 
^•rays  travelling  until  two  o'clock  in  the  night,  and 
again  at  four.  He  was  accompanied  by  Dr. 


230  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE   REPUBLIC. 

Qrtez,  his  secretary,  and  a  well-known  youn^r  man 
who  had  been  prevented  from  continuing  the  jo,irnev 
in  his  own  carriage  by  the  loss  of  a  wheel  soon  ^fter 
starting. 

At  every  post  Facundo  eagerly  asked  how  long  ft 
was  since  a  courier  from  Buenos  Ayres  had  passed . 
the  usual  answer  was,  "  about  an  hour,"  after  which 
he  called  hurriedly  for  horses,  and  drove  on  rapidly. 
Their  comfort  was  not  increased  by  the  rain,  which 
fell  in  torrents  two  or  three  days.  On  entering  the 
province  of  Santa  Fe*,  Quiroga's  anxiety  increased,  and 
it  became  absolute  agony  when,  on  reaching  the  post 
at  Pa  von,  he  found  that  the  post-master  was  absent, 
and  that  there  were  no  horses  to  be  had  immediately. 
His  companions  saw  no  cause  for  this  mood,  and  were 
astonished  to  find  this  man  who  was  a  terror  to  the 
whole  Republic,  a  prey  to  what  seemed  groundless 
fears. 

When  the  carriage  once  more  started,  he  muttered 
in  a  low  tone  to  himself,  "  If  I  only  get  beyond  the 
boundaries  of  Santa  Fd,  it  is  enough." 

At  last  they  arrived  at  Cordova,  at  half-past  nine  at 
night,  just  an  hour  after  the  courier  from  Buenos 
Ayres,  who  had  preceded  them  all  the  way.  One  of 
the  Remafe"s  hastened  to  the  post-station  where  Fa- 
cundo still  sat  in  his  carriage  calling  for  horses,  and 
greeting  him  respectfully,  invited  him  to  pass  the  night 
in  the  city  where  the  governor  had  already  prepared 
for  his  reception.  But  to  each  renewed  offer  of  hos- 
pitality, Quiroga  only  answered  by  a  call  for  horses, 
until  Reinafe*  retired  mortified,  and  Facundo  set  out 
again  at  twelve  o'clock  at  night. 


FACUNDO'S  OBSTINACY.  231 

Meanwhile  the  city  of  Cordova  was  filled  with  mys- 
terious rumors  ;  the  friends  of  the  young  man  who  had 
by  chance  come  with  Quiroga,  and  who  stopped  at 
Cordova,  his  native  place,  went  to  see  him  in  crowds^ 
seeming  to  be  much  astonished  at  finding  him  alive* 
They  informed  him  that  he  had  a  narrow  escape  ;  that 
Quiroga  was  to  have  been  assassinated  at  a  certain 
place  ;  that  the  assassins  were  engaged  and  the  pistols 
purchased  ;  but  he  had  escaped  them  by  his  haste,  for 
the  courier  had  scarcely  arrived  and  announced  his 
coming,  when  he  appeared  himself,  frustrating  all  their 
plans.  Never  was  such  a  thing  undertaken  with  so 
little  secrecy  ;  the  whole  city  knew  all  the  particulars^ 
of  the  'crime  intended  by  the  government,  and  Quiro- 
ga's  assassination  was  the  only  subject  of  conversation. 

Quiroga  arrived  at  his  destination,  settled  the  diffi- 
culties between  the  hostile  governors,  and  started  back 
to  Cordova,  in  spite  of  the  reiterated  entreaties  of  the 
governors  of  Santiago  and  Tucuman,  who  offered  him 
a  large  escort,  and  advised  him  to  return  by  way  of 
Cuyo.  It  would  seem  that  some  avenging  spirit  made 
him  obstinately  persist  in  defying  his  enemies,  without 
escort,  and  without  any  means  of  defense,  when  he 
might  have  gone  by  the  Cuyo  road,  disinterred  his 
immense  deposit  of  arms  at  Rioja,  and  armed  the  eight 
provinces  which  were  under  his  influence.  He  knew 
all ;  had  received  repeated  intimations  in  Santiago 
del  Estero ;  he  knew  the  danger  he  had  escaped  by 
his  rapid  progress ;  knew  the  greater  one  which  awaited 
him,  for  his  enemies  had  not  given  up  their  design. 
"  To  Cordova  !  "  he  cried  to  the  postilion,  as  if  Cor- 
dova was  to  be  the  end  of  his  journey. 


232      LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

Before  they  reached  the  post-station  of  Ojo  del  Agua, 
a  young  man  came  out  of  the  woods  into  the  road,  and 
asked  at  the  carriage  for  Dr.  Ortez,  who  got  out  and 
heard  from  the  young  man,  that  Santos  Perez  with  a 
military  company  was  stationed  near  a  place  called 
Barranca-Yacco  ;  that  as  the  carriage  passed  they  were 
to  fire  into  it  from  both  sides,  and  afterwards  kill  the 
postilions ;  no  one  was  to  escape  ;  the  orders  were 
'  positive.  The  young  man,  who  had  formerly  been 
befriended  by  Ortez,  now  came  to  save  him,  and  had  a 
horse  ready  at  a  little  distance  for  him  to  ride.  The 
secretary,  astounded  by  this  news,  told  Quiroga  what 
4ie  had  heard  and  urged  him  to  save  himself.  Facundo 
questioned  the  young  man  again,  and  thanked  him  for 
the  information,  but  told  him  he  might  make  himself 
easy,  adding  in  a  loud  voice,  "  The  man  is  not  born 
who  will  kill  Quiroga ;  at  a  word  from  me  to-morrow, 
that  whole  company  will  put  itself  under  my  command, 
and  escort  me  to  Cordova." 

These  words  of  Quiroga,  which  I  have  but  recently 
learned,  explain  why  he  so  strangely  persisted  in  de- 
fying death.  Pride  and  faith  in  the  terror  of  his  name,  j 
urged  him  on  to  the  fatal  catastrophe.  I  had  already 
so  accounted  for  it  in  my  own  mind,  before  I  had  the 
confirmation  of  his  words. 

The  night  which  the  travellers  passed  at  the  post- 
statioh  of  Ojo  del  Agua,  was  one  of  great  agony  to  the 
unhappy  secretary,  who  was  going  to  a  certain  death 
without  the  half-savage  valor  and  rashness  which  in- 
spired Quiroga  ;  death  never  seems  more  terrible  than 
when  imposed  by  the  senseless  bravado  of  a  friend,  and 
when  there  would  be  no  dishonor  in  avoiding  it.  Dr. 


FACUNDO'S   INDIVIDUALITY.  233 

Ortez  took  the  post-master  aside  and  asked  him  about 
the  report  he  had  heard,  promising  not  to  abuse  his 
confidence  ;  he  was  told  that  Santos  Perez  had  been 
there  with  his  company  of  thirty  men  not  an  hour  be- 
fore, and  they  were  then  stationed  at  the  appointed 
place,  fully  armed  ;  that  all  who  accompanied  Quiroga 
were  to  be  killed,  as  Perez  himself  had  said.  This 
corroboration  of  the  information  before  received  did 
not  alter  the  determination  of  Quiroga,  who,  after 
taking  a  cup  of  chocolate,  as  usual,  slept  profoundly ; 
unlike  Ortez  who  lay  awake  thinking  of  his  wife  and 
children  whom  he  would  see  no  more,  and  only  because 
he  could  not  incur  the  charge  of  disloyalty  to  his  friend, 
—  a  friend  more  to  be  feared  than  many  enemies.  At 
midnight,  his  agony  becoming  insupportable,  he  got 
up  with  a  faint  hope  of  receiving  some  comfort  from 
the  post-master.  But  the  man  could  only  repeat  what 
he  had  already  told,  and  showed  unfeigned  anxiety 
himself,  for,  as  he  said,  the  two  postilions  he  was 
obliged  to  provide  would  have  to  share  the  same  fate. 
Ortez  then  aroused  Quiroga,  and  made  one  more  at- 
tempt to  dissuade  him  from  his  purpose,  saying  that  he 
could  not  accompany  him  if  he  persisted.  Quiroga 
laughed  at  his  fears,  and  gave  him  to  understand  that 
his  own  anger  would  be  more  dangerous  than  anything 
he  could  meet  at  Barranca- Yacco  ;  so  that  the  unfor- 
tunate man  could  only  submit.  Quiroga  then  called 
his  strong  negro  servant  and  set  him  to  cleaning  some 
arms  ;  this  was  all  he  could  be  induced  to  do  in  the 
way  of  precaution. 

Daylight  came  at  last,  and  the  carriage  started,  ac- 
companied by  two  postillions,  one  of  whom  was  a  mere 


234  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE -REPUBLIC. 

lad  and  nephew  of  one  of  the  company  which  lay  in 
wait  for  them  ;  two  couriers  who  accidentally  joined 
the  party,  and  the  negro  who  went  on  horseback. 
They  soon  reached  the  fatal  spot,  two  discharges  were 

.fired  into  the  carriages  from  each  side  of  the  road,  but  ,. 
without  wounding  any  one ;  then  the  soldiers  rushing 
up  sword  in  hand,  disabled  the  horses  in  a  moment, 
and  cut  to  pieces  the  driver  and  couriers.  Quiroga 
meanwhile  put  his  head  out  of  the  window  and  said  to 
the  commander  of  the  company,  "  What  is  all  this  ?  " 

Sis  only  answer  was  a  ball  through  his  head.  Santos 
^Perez  then  passed  his  sword  several  times  through  the 
body,  and  when  the  butchery  was  completed,  had  the 
carriage  filled  with  dead  bodies,  and  dragged  into  the 
woods,  with  the  murdered  postilion  still  on  his  seat. 
The  young  lad  alone  was  alive,  and  Perez  seeing  him, 
asked  who  he  was.  His  sergeant  replied,  that  the  boy 
was  a  nephew  of  his,  and  that  he  would  answer  for 
him  with  his  life.  Without  a  word,  Perez  walked  up 
to  the  sergeant,  shot  him  through  the  heart,  and  then 
seizing  the  boy  by  the  arm,  threw  him  on  the  ground 
and  cut  his  throat  in  spite  of  his  childish  cries  for 
mercy.  Yet  in  after  life  the  death  cries  of  this  lad  be- 
came a  pursuing  torment  to  him,  and  sounded  in  his 
ears,  sleeping  or  waking,  wherever  he  might  be.  Fa- 
cundo  had  said  of  all  the  deeds  he  had  committed,  but 
one  remorse  troubled  him,  which  was  for  the  death  of 
the  twenty-six  officers  shot  at  Mendoza. 

This  Santos  Perez  was  a  gaucho-outlaw,  celebrated  N 
in  all  the  Sierra  and  city  of  Cordova  for  the  many 
murders  he  had  committed,  for  his  bold  audacity  and 
extraordinary  adventures.     While   General    Paz  was 


SANTOS  PEREZ.  235 

at  Cordova  this  man  had  gathered  about  him  a  large 
band  of  the  most  lawless  men,  and  occupied  one  of  the 
wild  mountain  districts.  With  higher  ideas,  he  would- 
have  been  equal  to  Quiroga,  as  it  was,  he  was  only  his 
assassin.  He  was  very  tall,  had  a  pale,  handsome  face, 
with  a  curly  black  beard. 

»  Perez  was  long  pursued  as  a  criminal  by  the  govern- 
ment, and  more  than  four  hundred  men  were  sent  out 
to  look  for  him.  Once  he  narrowly  escaped  being 
poisoned  by  Reinaf£  ;  at  another  time  a  party  sent  to 
take  him  was  commanded  by  an  old  friend  of  his,  who 
sent  for  him  under  pretense  of  having  something  to 
say  to  him.  Perez  went  down  to  him,  saying,  "  Here 
I  am,  what  is  wanted  ?  "  and  when  the  captain  hesi- 
tated a  moment  with  embarrassment,  he  turned  on  his 
heel,  saying  contemptuously,  "  I  knew  you  wanted  to 
betray  me,  and  only  came  to  make  sure  of  itj  "*  and 
before  they  could  seize  him,  he  had  disappeared.  After 
numerous  escapes  of  this  kind,  he  was  at  last  delivered 
up  to  justice  through  a  woman's  revenge.  He  had 
beaten  his  mistress  one  night,  and  when  he  had  fallen 
asleep,  she  went  out  and  told  some  policemen  where 
he  was,  having  first  removed  his  pistols  from  beside  his 
pillow.  Being  suddenly  awakened,  and  seeing  him- 
self surrounded  by  armed  men,  he  reached  out  his 
arm,  and  then  said,  quietly,  "  I  surrender,  they  have 
taken  my  pistols." 

An  immense  crowd  assembled  in  the  streets  when 
he  was  carried  into  Buenos  Ayres,  and  showered  upon 
him  every  kind  of  abusive  epithet,  but  he  only  held 
his  head  the  higher,  and  murmured  disdainfully,  "  If  I 
but  had  my  knife."  He  was  followed  with  execrations 


236  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

as  he  walked  to  the  scaffold,  and  his  gigantic  form, 
like  that  of  Danton,  towered  above  the  crowd  around 
him. 

The  government  of  Buenos  Ayres  gave  great  solem- 
nity to  the  execution  of  Quiroga's  assassins  ;  the  blood- 
stained, ball-pierced  carriage  was  long  exposed  to  pub- 
lic view,  and  lithographs  of  Quiroga,  and  of  those 
executed  on  the  scaffold,  were  distributed  among  the 
people.  But  the  impartial  historian  will  one  day  ex- 
pose the  real  instigator  of  the  assassination. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

t^ 

FRIAR   JOS£    FELIX   ALDAO,   BRIGADIER-GENERAL    AND 
GOVERNOR. 

ON  the  4th  of  February,  1817,  the  following  inci-1 
dent  happened  in  a  deep,  narrow  valley  of  the  Andes, 
through  which  the  river  Aconcagua  rushes  from  rock  " 
to  rock  in  its  sudden  descent.  It  was  near  sunset  as 
the  vanguard  of  the  division,  commanded  by  ColoneL 
Las  Heras,  marched  silently  down  the  mountain  to- 
wards Chili,  by  the  rough,  rocky  road  leading  through" 
Uspallata.  The  fort,  known  by  the  name  of  "La 
Guardia  Vieja,"  was  visible  far  down  in  the  valley,  and 
had  the  appearance  of  being  entirely  unoccupied,  but 
a  detachment  of  Spanish  soldiers  was  concealed  within, 
watching  the  approach  of  the  insurgents,  and  prepared 
for  a  combat.  Presently  two  discharges  were  fired 
from  the  fortifications  ;  a  company  of  the  eleventh 
rebel  regiment  immediately  advanced,  firing,  from  the 
bank  of  the  river  to  within  twelve  paces  of  the  fort, 
while  another  defiled  along  the  mountain  side  to  pre- 
vent all  possibility  of  the  escape  of  the  Spaniards.  A 
moment  afterwards  they  carried  the  walls  at  the  point 
of  the  bayonet,  and  wherever  the  contest  was  mos£A 
desperate,  were  seen  flashing  the  swords  of  thirty 
grenadiers,  under  Lieutenant  Jose*  Aldao.  Among 
these  was  a  strange  figure  dressed  in  white,  like  some  »• 


238  LIFE  IN  THE   ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

phantom,  and  dealing  blow  after  blow  with  wild  feroc- 
ity^  -This  was  the  chaplain  of  the  division,  whoy 

carried  away  by  excitement,  had  obeyed  the  order  t6 
charge,  which,  when  given  to  the  conquerors  of  San 
Lorenzo,  was  sure  to  be  followed  by  a  battle  in  which 
no  quarter  was  given. 

When  the  victorious  vanguard  returned  to  the  forti- 
fied encampment  occupied  by  Las  Heras  and  the  rest  -r 
of  the  division,  the  commander  saw  by  the  blood-stains^ 
on  the  scapulary  of  the  chaplain,  that  he  had  been  in- 
creasing the  number  of  the  dead  instead  of  comforting 
the  dying,  and  signified  to  him  that  he  would  do  better  j/ 
to  keep  to  his  breviary  and  leave  the  sword  to  warriors. 
The  hot-tempered  chaplain  could  ill-brook  this  reproof, 
and  turned  hastily  away  with  flashing  eyes  and  com- 
pressed lips.      On    dismounting    at    his   lodgings,  he 
grasped  the  sword  still  hanging  at  his  side,  saying  to 
Jiimself,  "  We  shall  see."     Thus  was  formed  an  irrev- 
ocable  resolution.      That   evening's    combat  had  re- 
vealed his  natural  instincts  in  all  their  strength,  proving 
how  little  fitted  he  was  for  a  profession  requiring  mild- 
ness and  brotherly  love ;  he  had  felt  the  pleasure  in 
shedding  blood  which  is  natural  to  those  who  have  the 
organ  of  destructiveness  strongly  developed  ;  war  at-    , 
tracted  him  irresistibly ;  he  wished  to  rid  himself  of 
the  troublesome  gown  he  wore,  and  to  win  the  laurels 
of  the  soldier  in  place  of  the  symbol  of  humiliation  and^ 
penitence  ;  he  therefore  determined  that  he  would  Jbje- 
no  longer  a  priest,   but  a  soldier,   as  were  Jose*  and 
Francisco,  his  brothers.     The  fear  of  scandal  would 
not  deter  him,  for  he  could  cite  many  examples  in  his "• 
favor;  the  celebrated  engineer  Beltran,  who  had  lighted  . 


THE  CATHOLIC  PARTY  AND  RELIGION.  239 

with  resinous  torches  the  dangerous  passes  of  the  Andes, 
and  who  afterwards  prepared  at  Santiago  congreve' 
rockets  to  be  thrown  into  the  forts  of  Callao,  was  also 
a  priest  who  had  laid  aside  the  gown,  finding  that  he  • 
was  able  to  serve  his  country  more  effectually  than  the 
church.  In  all  parts  of  America,  especially  in  Mexico,, 
priests  and  monks  had  led  the  insurgents,  taking  ad- 
vantage of  the  influence  which  their  priestly  office 
gave  them  over  the  common  people.  However,  the 
chaplain  Aldao  was  not  troubled  with  a  scrupulous/^ 
conscience,  and  would  not  have  been  deterred  from 
his  resolution  even  without  the  excuse  of  such  exam- 
ples. He  belonged  to  a  poor,  but  honorable  family  of 
Mendoza,  and  had  shown  from  his  infancy  such  willful- 
ness and  disregard  of  authority,  that  his  parents  edu-  > 
cated  him  for  the  priesthood,  in  the  hope  that  its 
solemn  duties  would  reform  his  evil  tendencies;  a  fataj 
mistake,  for  his  novitiate  was,  like  his  childhood,  a 
continued  course  of  violence  and  immorality.  Not- 
withstanding this,  he  received  sacred  orders  in  Chili/ 
in  1806,  under  the  episcopacy  of  Meran,  and  the  pat- 
ronage of  the  reverend  father  Velasquez,  who  assisted 
him  at  his  first  mass  at  Santiago,  and  who  was  greatly 
scandalized  at  seeing  the  newly  made  priest  after  the 
battle  of  Chacabuco  in  military  costume,  and  with  the 
martial  bearing  of  a  soldier.  "  Thou  wilt  repent  of 
this,"  cried  the  good  priest,  in  his  horror  at  this  profa- 
nation ;  but  unfortunately  for  the  Argentine  people 
the  prophecy  was  not  fulfilled,  for  the  apostate,  though, 
^unmourned,  died  a  natural  death,  and  with  the  honors  ' 
of  a  victorious  general. 


240  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

Colonel  Las  Heras,  in  his  official  report  of  the  battle 
of  La  Guardia  Vieja,  made  favorable  mention  of  the 
priest,  for  capturing  two  officers,  which,  according  to 
military  rule,  gives  a  claim  to  promotion  ;  and  conse- 
quently, the  priest  who  had  made  his  first  experiment 
in  fighting  at  Guardia  Vieja,  appeared  at  the  battle  of 
Chacabuco  in  the  uniform  of  a  lieutenant  of  grenadiers, 
and  won  a  soldier's  laurels.  Though  he  could  never 
rid  himself  of  his  priestly  title,  he  soon  proved  in  his 
new  career  that  he  did  not  wear  the  sword  in  vain, 
and  became  renowned  as  a  formidable  warrior  and  an 
implacable  enemy  ;  known  to  the  army  and  the  public 
generally,  as  "  El  fraile,''  or  the  monk. 
'-  I  will  mention  one  of  the  many  remarkable  deeds 
performed  by  him  at  that  time.  In  the  pursuit  after 
the  Jbattle  of  Maipu,  a  Spanish  grenadier  of  gigantic 
^tature  was  cutting  his  way  through  the  surrounding 

-  enemies,  and  with  each  blow  of  his  mighty  sworcf 
stretching  a  lifeless  body  on  the  ground  ;  the  brave 
Lavalle  attempted  to  approach  him,  but  felt  his  eager 
valor  cool  whenever  the  confusion  of  the  struggle 
brought  them  together.  Aldao,  seeing  this,  made  his 
way  up  to  the  giant,  and,  instead  of  falling  with  the 
many  other  victims,  beat  aside  the  terrible  sword  and 
passed  his  own  again  and  again  through  the  body  of 
the  huge  Spaniard,  amidst  the  loud  acclamations  of  his 
party. 

J  But  whatever  honorable  deeds  in  arms  the  recreant 
priest  may  have  accomplished,  his  conduct  would  at' 

"  any  other  time,  or  in  any  other  circumstances,  have 
covered  him  with  opprobrium.  Freed  from  the  re- 
straint hitherto  imposed  upon  his  inclinations  by  the 


CAPTAIN  UNDER  SAN  MARTIN.  241 

priestly  office,  eager  for  pleasure,  and  perhaps  impelled 
to  excesses  by  the  necessity  for  excitement  in  which 
men  often  seek  to  drown  any  possible  remorse  for  a 
wrong  step  in  life,  the  monk  henceforth  became  famous 
for  his  disorderly  habits  ;  his  private  life  being  devoted 
to  intoxication,  cards,  and  women.  But  perhaps  ever? 
these  vices  would  have  been  forgiven,  had  they  nqt 
outlasted  the  first  excitement  of  unrestrained  y4>uth,x 
and  followed  him  to  the  end  of  his  life.  He  abused 
even  the  large  indulgence  with  which  his  companions 
in-  arms  regarded  his  conduct,  and  though  his*  com- 
manders were  very  willing  to  make  use  of  his  courage, 
they  took  care  to  send  him  to  a  distance  whenever  ijp 
was  possible  to  do  so  with  advantage.  Whatever  differ- 
ences of  opinion  there  may  be  among  men,  all  feel  -a 
repugnance  at  seeing  a  priest  stained  with  blood,  and '  • 
given  over  to  intoxication  and  vice. 

Aldao  had  the  rank  of  captain  in  the  army  which 
left  Valparaiso  under  command  of  San  Martin,  to  de- 
liver Peru  from  the  Spanish  dominion.     In  that  coun- 
try, where  the  main  body  of  Spanish  forces  was  sta- 
tioned, the  insurgent  army  needed  auxiliaries  to  harass 
the  enemy  on  all  sides,  and  act  as  reserve  forces.     For 
this  purpose  bands  of  guerrillas  were  organized  in  the  „ 
mountains,  which  kept  the  royalists  in  continual  alarm. 
These  bands  required  bold,  fearless  commanders,  who 
would  risk  everything  to  attain  their  ends,  and  who 
shrank  from  nothing,  not  even  pillage  and  assassination; 
After  taking  part  in  the  contests  at  Lacca  and  Pasco^> 
Captain  Aldao  was  sent  to  raise  one  of  these  bancte  arid'- 
to  act  on  his  own  responsibility,  as  circumstances  should 
suggest.  .    His   own  master,  and   within  reach  of  no 

16 


242  LIFE  IN   THE  ARGENTINE   REPUBLIC. 

higher  authority  than  himself,  it  can  easily  be  con- 
ceived that  his  violence  and  unrestrained  passions  found| 
.plenty  of  victims  among  a  timid  people  quite  incapable 
of  resistance.  A  characteristic  incident  soon  happened. 
Aldao  had  determined  to  defend  with  his  troop  of 
Indians  the  bridge  of  Iscuchaca,  but  at  the  approach  of 
a  detachment  of  Spaniards,  more  than  a  thousand  na- 
tives fled,  thus  losing  their  advantageous  position,  and 
without  resistance  delivering  to  the  enemy  an  impor- 
tant post.  Their  furious  leader,  unable  to  prevent 
their  flight,  fell  upon  them  as  upon  a  flock  of  sheep, 
and  did  not  cease  slaying  until  a  large  heap  of  dead 
and  wounded  had  fallen  under  the  repeated  strokes  of 
his  sword.  However  bloody  might  have  been  a  con- 
test at  the  bridge,  and  however  deadly  the  fire  of  the 
Spaniards,  fewer  Indians  would  have  fallen  than  thus 
lay  on  the  ground,  the  victims  of  one  man's  anger. 

The  circumstances  which  occasioned  the  disbanding 
of  San  Martin's  army,  made  it  unnecessary  for  Aldao  to 
remain  longer  in  the  mountains,  and  with  the  rank  ofi, 
lieutenant-colonel,  he  went  to  Lima,  where  fortune! 
favored  him  at  cards,  until  he  had  gained  a  large  for- 
tune, and  then  he  left  for  Pasto.  He  there  met  a 
beautiful  young  girl  of  respectable  family,  with  whom 
he  became  violently  enamored,  and  who  returned  his 
passion.  This  was  no  passing  fancy,  but  a  deep,  last- 
ing feeling  on  both  sides,  only  strengthened  by  the 
impossibility  of  a  lawful  union,  which  would  ever  be 
prevented  by  his  priestly  vows.  Fortunately  for  him, 
she  was  unselfish  enough  to  consent  to  be  the  mistress 
of  a  soldier  whose  epaulets  could  not  conceal  the  stain 
of  apostasy,  and,  leaving  friends  and  country,  she  fled 


ALDAO  AT  MENDOZA.  243 

with  him  where  the  humiliation  of  her  social  position 
would  be  less  known. 

Aklao  established  himself  at  San  Felipe,  capital  of 
the  province  of  Aconcagua,  where  he  became  a  mer- 
chant, and  lived  respectably  ;  but  the  unfortunate  pair 
were  condemned  to  suffer  the  inevitable  consequences 
of  their  false  position,  and  the  church  which  he  ha'cj 
repudiated,  would  not  quietly  see  him  in  the  arms  of 
another  mistress.  The  cure  Espinosa  threatened  -fto 
send  him  to  Santiago  to  the  tender  mercies  of  the 
order  he  had  abandonee},  and  finally  forced  him  to  re- 
move to  Mendoza,  his  native  place,  and  carry  there  the 
scandal  of  his  unlawful  union.  The  church  is  ever 
bitter  against  those  who  have  left  her  for  social  ppsi-  \ 
tions.  If  the  monk  Aldao  could  have  married  lawfully,  - 
perhaps  his  passions  might  have  been  moderated  by  the 
pleasures  of  home,  and  he  might  have  been  saved  from 
the  crimes  of  his  after-life. 

On  recrossing  the  Andes,  his  reflections  must  have 
been  strange,  and  anything  but  pleasant,  for  the  moun- 
tain ridge  which  separated  two  provinces,  was  also  a 
dividing  line  between  the  two  phases  of  his  existence : 
on  one  side  he  had  been  the  chaplain,  —  the  Dominican 
friar;  —  on  the  other,  he  \Yas  the  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Felix  Aldao,  with  an  unwedded  wife  at  his  side.     The 
people  of  Mendoza,  who  had  been  accustomed  to  see 
him  with  gown  and  rosary,  would  now  see  him;  with  . 
sword  and  epaulets,  and  women  and  children  would"' 
point  mockingly  at  "  the  Fraile,"  a  name  wrhich  came 
to  be  a  more  painful  wound  than  any  received  in  bat-  • 
tie.     He  avoided  society,  and  secretly  nourished  a  sort 
of  hatred  for  all  mankind,  which  was  the  more  bitter' 
because  suppressed. 


244  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

On  his  arrival  at  Mendoza,  in  1824,  he  took  a  farm 
at  a  little  distance  from  the  city,  where  he  labored  with 
commendable  industry  and  intelligence,  and  where  the 
only  drawback  to  his  happiness  was  the  remembrance 
of  the  detested  tie  which  still  bound  him  to  the  church. 
In  this  retirement  Aldao  might  have  lived  quietly  to T 
the  end  of  his  days,  but  unfortunately  for  himself  and 
his  country,  echoes  of  arms  and  civil  war  once  more  * 
resounded  throughout  the  land,  and  he  was  drawn  into"  v 
that  public  life  from  which  he  was  to  escape  only  "by ^ 
(Jeath,   loaded   with    crimes   and    pursued  by   endless 
maledictions. 

.The  elements  of  destruction  existing  in  the  Argent 
tjne  Republic  were  then  in  motion,  and  were  soon  to  I 
.    develop  the  cruel  and  despotic  government  which  now 
crushes   it.     The    brilliant  but    artificial   government 
1  established  by  Rivadavia  at  Buenos  Ayres,  fascinated    J 
its  immediate  supporters,  but  provoked  jealousies  and 
opposition  in  the  interior  ;  divers  ambitions  were  de- 
veloping :  the  Caudillos  1  were  soon  to  appear  ;  parties 
were  just  forming  ;  the  envy  excited  by  a  rich,  power- 
ful city  in  her  poorer  neighbors,  clamored  for  a  con-  • 
federation  ;    Spanish  prejudices  caused  many  men  •  to 
oppose  all  reform ;  the  presidential  government  seemed 
to  many  a  foreign   domination ;    all    was  chaos  ;    the 
clouds  preceding  the  hurricane  gathered  darkly  on  the 
horizon,  and  as  the  terror  of  birds  indicates  a  coming 
storm,  so  the  general  uneasiness  of  men's  minds  signi- - 
fied  that  some  mighty  commotion  was  at  hand. 

STiddenly  the  storm  burst  upon  San  Juan  with  the 
cry  of  "  Viva  la  Religion  ! "    The  government  of  Car-\ 

1  Country  Chiefs.!. 


THE  ALDAO   TRIUMVIRATE.  245 

ril  was  overthrown,  and  in  less  than  twenty-four  hours' 
a  fiddler  had  become  a  general,  a  lame  cobbler  was 
making  laws,  and  a  clown  deciding  the  fate  of  a  coun- 
try. One  Maradona,  a  pretended  old  nobleman,  was 
fouijd  to  give  some  show  of  decency  to  the  plebeian 
mob;  and,  unfortunately,  deluded  priests,  believing  "it 
to'  be  a  question  of  religion,  placed  the  cross  at  the? 
head  of  this  insurrection,  —  the  beginning  of  the  long'' 
series  of  crimes  which  brought  the  Republic  to  its 
present  condition  of  barbarism.  Two  hundred  citizens, 
fled  to  Mendoza,  and  besought  aid  from  the  brave, 
soldiers  who  had  returned  from  Chili  and^eru,  Felix 
Aldao  among  the  rest.  He  hesitated,  and  asked  him- 
self why  he  should  leave  the  asylum  in  which  both  his 
glory  and /his  shame  were  hidden;  but  finally  cofi- 
•sented,  and  under  the  command  of  his  brother  Jose, 
inarched  to  San  Juan  at  the  head  of  a  company  which 

.  obtained  an  easy  victory  over  the  plebeian  crowd,  with* 
out  a  leader  or  officers  capable  of  directing  its  enthu- 
siasm* *y 
s  The  Aldao  brothers  returned  to  Mendoza  covered, 
with  laurels,  and  provided  by  their  friends  with  money 
obtained  by  exorbitant  contributions  imposed  upon 
.  tjieir  enemies.  But  the  Aldaos  had  acquired  in  the 
expedition  something  more  than  fame  and  money,  — 
the  knowledge  of  their  own  power, — and  formed*  a 
brotherly  league  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  their 
ends.  All  three  were  colonels,  all  brave,  intelligent, 

.    and  capable. 

This  triumvirate  has  exercised  a  most  pernicious 
influence  in  the  Argentine  Republic,  never  yet  ftilly 
appreciated.  After  reconquering  Chili,  San  Martin 


246  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE   REPUBLIC. 


> 


sent  the 'first  regiment  of  the  Andes  to  San  Juan  with 
orders  t6  raise  a  company  of  dragoons,  anol  then  to  join 
the  army  which  was  to  invade  Peru.  But  Jose  and 
Francisco  Aldao  with  other  rebels,  executed  a  military 
maneuver  which  deprived  the  army  of  this  expected  aid. 

''Most  of  the  officers   were    assassinated,  and  the  two_ 

-  regiments,  not  having  succeeded  in  occupying  Men? 
doza,  where  Colonel  Alvarado  and  other  forces  of  the" 
army  were  stationed,  attempted  a  disastrous  retreat  to 

^Tucuman,  and  dispersed  with  the  shame  of  having 
deserted  their  banners. 

The  stragglers  of  the  disbanded  regiments,  in  pass- 

'ing  through  Rioja,  met  with  a  mar^already  conspicuous 
in  the  provincial  rebellions,  and  whose  name  was  des- 
tined to  become  terrible  in  Argentine  history.  This 
gaucho  with  keen  black  eyes,  and  a  pale  face,  almost 
'covered  with  a  thick,  curly  black  beard,  obtained  from 
the  deserters  their  arms.  The  dream  of  years  was 
realized  ;  Facundo^Quiroga  was  in  possession  of  arms^ 
and  provincial  barbarism,  the  brutal  pgs&ions.  of  the 
multitude,  plebeian  ambitions  and  prejudices,  the  thirst 
for  blood  and  pillage,  had  at  last  their  partisan,  their 
gaucho  hero,  their  spirit  personified.  Facundo  Quiro- 
ga  had. arms,  and  men  would  not  be  wanting  ;  one  cry 
from  him  resounding  from  forest  to  plain,  would  bring 
about  him  a  thousand  mounted  gauchos. 

»  Ah  !  when  will  an  impartial  history  of  the  Argentine 
Republic  be  written?  And  when  will  its  people  be  able, 
without  fear  of  a  tyrant,  to  read  the  terrible  drama  of 
the  revolution,  —  the  well-intentioned  and  brilliant, 
but  chimerical  government  of  Rivadavia  ;  the  power 

jand  brutal  deeds  of  Facundo  Quiroga;  and  the  admin- 


FUTURE  DESTINY  ,OF  THE  REPUBLIC.  247 

istration  of  Rosas,  the  great  tyrant  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  who  unconsciously  revived   the  spirit  of  the 
Middle  Ages,  and  the  doctrine  of  equality  armed  with 
the  knife  of  Danton  and  Robespierre.     Had  the  de- 
fense of  Montevideo  gloriously  ended  the  revolutionary 
period,  we  should  have  an  epic  poem  in  place  of  his- 
tory, and  in  forty  years  should  have  passed  through  all 
the  changes  and  elaborations  which  have  been  devel- 
oped in  Europe  only  with  the  lapse  of  many  centuries.  « 
That  we  have  made  for  ourselves  a  military  reputation, 
witness  Brazil,  Chili,  Peru,  Bolivia,  and  the  Indians  to 
the  south  of  us  ;  our  victorious  arms  have  been  carried  .- 
to  the  farthest  extent  of  the  continent.     We  have  had* 
our  institutions,  and  contests  of  ideas  and  principles,  i 
And  our  future  destiny  is  foretold  in   our  numerous 
rivers,  the  boundless  pasturage  of  our  plains,  our  im- 
mense forests,  and  a  climate  favorable  to  the  produc- 
tions of  the  whole  world.     If  we  lack  an  intelligent^ 
population,  let  the  people  of  Europe  once  feel  that  there 
is  permanent  peace  and  freedom  in  our  country,  and    "'i 
multitudes  of  emigrants  would  find  their  way  to  a  land 
where  success  is  sure.     No,  we  are  not  lowest  among 
Aniericans.     Something  is  to  result  from  this  chaos  ;. 
either  something  surpassing   the    government  of  the' 
United  States  of  North  America,  or  something  a  thou- 
;sand  times  worse  than  that  of  Russia,  —  the  Darkr  Ages 
returned,  or  political  institutions  superior  to  any  yet 
known. 

Jose*  and  Francisco,  after  bringino;  disorder  into  the 

JP 

army  which  was  to  invade  Peru,  and  exciting  revolts* 
in  the  interior,  were  taken  prisoners  and  carried- to 
Lima,  where  they  would  have  received  punishment 


248  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

for  their  misdeeds,  had  not  the  monk,  chief  of  the 
'mountain  guerrillas,  appeared  and  interceded  for  thefn 
with  San  Martin,  urging  as  a  consideration  his  own 
past  Cervices.  Francisco,  after  the  battle  of  Agacucho,  ' 
in  which  he  served  under  Bolivar,  returned  to  Chili, 
where  he  was  engaged  by  Rivadavia's  agents  to  go  to  \ 
Mendoza  and  organize  a  force  to  dislodge  Facundo 
Quiroga,  who  had  taken  possession  of  San  Juan.  For  . 
Quiroga,  having  heard  something  of  the  agitation  among 
the  Catholics,  lost  no  time  in  raising  a  black  flag  with  a 
red  cross  upon  it,  and  the  words,  "  Religion  or  Death ! " 
though  it  is  very  certain  that  he  did  nothing  for  the 
benefit  of  religion  anywhere,  and  equally  true  that 
violence  and  death  constantly  followed  his  footsteps. 
It  is  singular  to  see  how  these  restless  Caudillos  looked 
;for  some  pretense  to  disguise  their  vague,  undefined 
,  ambition. 

A  letter  addressed  to  Quiroga  by  one  of  his  parti- 
sans contains  this  statement :  "  We  can't  do  anything 
more  with  4  Religion  or  Death,'  general,  it  no  longer 
makes  an  impression  ;  confederation  is  the  word  for  us 
now  ;  let  us  have  a  Constitution,  and  we  will  carry  it 
at  the  point  of  the  bayonet."  Yet  Quiroga  was  assas- 
sinated while  endeavoring  to  pursuade  the  Unitarios  to 
join  him  for  the  purpose  of  destroying  Rosas  and  the 
Federals. 

Francisco  Aldao  arrived  at  Mendoza  with  ten  thou- 
sand dollars,  which  he  had  received  beforehand  for  the 
enter-prise  against  Quiroga  ;  but  a  consultation  with 
his  brothers  caused  him  to  change  his  mind,  and  keep- " 
ing  the  money,  he  joined  with  them  in  forming  the 
military  trio  from  which  Mendoza  suffered  so  many 


BARCALA.  249 

outrages.  From  this  moment  the  Aldaos  labored  se- 
cretly for  the  attainment  of  their  own  ends,  the  field 
being  open  to  all  unprincipled  ambitions.  They  re- 
ceived an  order  to  raise  a  regiment  for  the  army  a£ 
Brazil,  and  accepted  it,  with  the  intention  of  using  tnp, 
men  for  their  own  purpose. 

Their  ambition,  however,  met  with  an  obstacle  in 
the  person  of  a  Creole  negro.  This  slave,  who  earl;^ 
showed  the  talent  not  unfrequent  in  descendants  of  the 
African  race,  had  been  carefully  educated  by  his  own- 
ers, and  was  in  condition  to  m^te  use  of  his  natural 
endowments  when  occasion  required.  He  began  his 
career  as  his  master's  assistant,  and  was  rapidly  pro- 
moted, until  he  became  commander  of  a  battalion, 
which  brought  him  in  contact  with  the  chief  politicians 
of  the  time.  Barcala  was  not  only  one  of  the  most 
distinguished  characters  of  the  revolution,  but  his  rep- 
utation was  untarnished,  and  this  could  be  said  of  very 
few  in  those  lawless  days.  He  was  a  man  of  refined 
manners,  tastes,  and  ideas,  and  his  success  was  owing 
to  his  own  merit.  He  never  forgot  his  color  and  origin. 
He  acquired  his  fame  in  history  through  his  rare  talent 
f6r  organization,  and  the  gift  which  he  possessed,  in  a 
high  degree  of  conveying  ideas  to  the  masses;  the 
lower  classes  were  transformed  by  the  magic  of  his 
pdwer  ;  and  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  his  training 
were  remarkable  for  their  good  behavior,  decent  dr^ss, 
intelligence,  and  love  of  liberty.  It  was  long  before* 
the  impression  made  by  Barcala  in  Mendoza  was 
effaced  ;  and  in  the  revolution  of  1840,  against  Rosas, 
a  large  battalion  of  infantry  in  Cordova  still  bore  his 
name  upon  their  banner,  and  resisted  Rosas  to  the  last. 


250  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

He  had  been  in  Cordova  in  1830,  and  had  inspired  its 
artisans  and  laborers  with  the  love  of  liberty  and  equal- 
ality,  in  the  broadest  sense  of  these  terms  ;  and,  though 
he  was  now  dead,  his  ideas  remained  in  the  hearts  of 
the  people. 

Obscure  men  who  rise  to  power  through  the  chances 
of  social  revolutions,  never  fail  to  persecute  in  others 
the  intelligence  and  knowledge  which  they  have  not 
themselves ;    when   the   ignorant    rule,   civilization   is 
brought  down  to  their  own  level,  and  woe  to  those  who  . 
rise  above  it,  be  it  ever  so  little.     In  France,  in  1793, 
the  sovereign  people  guillotined  those  who  could  read 
and  write  as  aristocrats;  in  the  Argentine  Republic, 
men    of  culture  were   called  savages,   and  had  their 
throats  cut,  and  though  the  name  seems  mere  irony,  it 
is  something  more  when  applied  by  the  assassin,  knife 
in  hand.     The  Caudillos  of  the  interior  rid  their  prov- 
inces of  all  lawyers,  doctors,  and  men  of  letters ;  and 
Rosas  pursued  them  even  within  the  walls  of  the  uni-  v 
versity  and  private  schools.     Those  who  were  allowed. . 
to   remain  were   such  persons  as  could  be   useful  in 
getting  up  a  repetition  of  the  government  of  Philip  Hi, 
of  Spain,  and  of  the  Inquisition. 

Barcala  felt  himself  to  be  a  gentleman,  and  united  'a 
spotless  reputation  to  great  professional  knowledge,  and 
a  talent  for  strategy  which  placed  him  among  officers 
of  the  first  rank.  He  made  himself  famous 'in  the 
army  of  Brazil,  and  Paz  and  other  officers  of  note  re- 
garded him  with  a  respect  amounting  to  veneration. 
Quiroga,  who  shot  all  the  officers  made  prisoners  at 
Ciudadela,  spared  him  —  the  only  one  who  had  fought 
until  the  last  of  his  men  were  surrounded,  and  retreat 


FACUNDO'S  PALACE. 

was  impossible.     When  offered  his  life  on  condition  v, 
serving    under  Quiroga,   lie    accepted    only  .with    the 
understanding  that  he  was  not  to  fight  against  his  own 
party  ;  and  in  him  Quiroga  gained  a  whole  army. 

Such  was  the  man  whom  the  Aldaos  wished  to  put  jf 
out  of  their  way ;  not  a  very  difficult  undertaking,  since 
Lavalle,  the  Aldaos,  and  Barcala  himself  were  to  unite 
in,  an  expedition  to  overthrow  Albin  Gutierrez,  who 
had  declared  against  the  national  government.  Bar- 
cala and  Lavalle  marched  to  join  the  army  against  the 
empire,  and  the  Aldaos  remained  to  oppress  the  peo- 
ple, and  give  themselves  up  to  the  pleasures  of  dissipa- 
tion. 

The  triumvirate  had  made  use  of  all  parties,  and  had    » 
served  all  parties  in  order  to  rid  themselves  of  influen- 
tial   men.      The   revolution    in   favor   of  the   national 

:  government  having  succeeded,  they  joined  with  Quiro- 
ga for  the  purpose  of  destroying  it.     The  Constitution 

'  arranged   by   the-  Congress   of  1826,  was   offered  for*  « 
acceptance  to  the  provinces.     The  agents  of  this  Con- 
gress were  received  in  a  rather  singular  manner  by 
Quiroga  in  behalf  of  San  Juan,  which  he  then  occupied.     . 

,  Two  or  three  hides,  stretched  over  lances  stuck  down 
in  the  middle  of  a  clover  field,  formed  a  tent  to  protect" 
this  caliph  of  the  faithful  —  this  divinely  commissioned 
helper  —  from  the  rays  of  the  sun  ;  here  Facundo  was  V 
lying  upon  a  black  cloak,  dressed  in  a  crimson  chiripa^ 
red  cloth  mantle,  and  untanned  boots. 

Dr.  Zavaleta,  Dean  of  the  Cathedral,  and  agent  of 
Congress,  was  received  in  this  palace,  and  stood  em-    •** 
barrassed  in  the  presence  of  the  commander,  who  nei- 
ther moved  nor  looked  at  him,  until  he  stammered  a  few 


IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

,  ords  about  his  mission.  Facundo  then  stretched  out 
his  hand,  received  the  paper  containing  the  Constitu- 
tion, and  wrote  in  the  corner  in  scarcely  legible  char- 
acters, "Despachado"  and  there  was  an  end  of  the 
matter.1 

In  Mendoza  the  result  was  no  better.  The  agent 
from  Congress  pathetically  expatiated  upon  the  evils 
existing  in  the  Republic,  conjured  all  patriots  to  unite 
under  a  constitution  which  would  insure  universal 
order  and  harmony  of  government  ;  but  there  was  a 
threefold  ambition  to  satisfy,  so  he  made  his  touching 
speech  with  tears  in  his  eyes  in  vain,  and  returned 
without  having  accomplished  anything.  The  Consti- 
tution met  with  the  same  reception  everywhere  ;  not 
from  the  people,  who  were  allowed  no  voice  in  the 
matter,  but  from  the  Caudilk>s,~whG  <iesipe<i-ttrretain  for 
Jthemselyes  entire  liberty  of  action.  The  Constitution 
would  have  restrained  them,  whereas  they  required*  an 
open  field  for  their  ambitions,  and  pretexts  for  war,  — 
i  confederation,  —  anything  to  disguise  the  uni- 


versal  ambition      TFus  the  national  government  fell, 
!  and  the  celebrated  Dorrego  assumed  the  government 
I  of  Buenos  Ayres.     The  old  Unitarios  could  not  under-  ' 
/  stand  that  Dorrego,  with  all  his  ambition  and  his  in- 
•    trigues,  was  nevertheless  the  only  person  who  might 
have  organized  the  Republic  under  a  parliamentary 
form,  and  prevented  it  from  being  brought  by  Rosas 
under  the    rule   of  a  cruel    despotism  which  was  to 
destroy  all  civilization  and  prosperity.     Dorrego  owed 

1  Subsequent  information  makes  it  certain  that  this  scene  was  but  a 
myth  of  the  time,  the  only  fact  being  that  Facundo  thus  disposed  of  the     ^ 
Constitution  sent  to  him. 


TABLAPA.  2-03 

his  elevation  to  the  parliamentary  chamber  and  the 
press  of  the  opposition  party,  and  he  would  never  have 
destroyed  the  powers  which  had  defeated  the  formep 
presidency  ;  but  all  were  overthrown  when  the  gaucho 
of 'the  pampas  came  into  power,  who  understood  little, 
and  cared  less  for  liberty  and  individual  rights.  It 
was  his  way  to  accomplish  his  ends  by  cutting  men's 
throats  ;  and  on  this  principle  the  Republic  is  now  gov- 
erned. 

The  1st  of  December,  1828,  and  the  fatal  victory  of 
Navarro,  taught  the  Caudillos  their  own  power,  and 
one  and  all  prepared  for  the  struggle  —  the  Aldaos  in 
Mendoza,  and  Facundo  in  the  Llanos.  A  regiment  of 
auxiliaries  was  put  in  training  at  Mendoza  under  com- 
mand of  the  monk-colonel,  whose  fame  was  not  yet  so 
great  as  that  of  his  brothers.  As  soldiers  of  the  War  of 

•  Independence,  they  knew  what  discipline  can  accom- 
plish,  and   {he    auxiliaries,   thoroughly   equipped  and 
trained,  occupied  the  right  wing  in  the  famous  Jbattle 

.  of  Tablada,  in  which  eight  hundred- veterans  of  the 
national  army,  commanded  by  the  able  General  Paz, 
left  three  thousand  enemies  dead,  after  a  two.  days' 
fight.  Of  the  regiment  of  auxiliaries,  sixty-five  sur- 
vived, with  their  colonel,  who  was  wounded  in  the  side. 
While  this  monk-colonel  was  confined  at  San  Luis, 
by  his  wound,  he  amused  himself  by  reading  atheisti- 
cal books,  —  an  apparently  insignificant  fact,  yet  it 

^would  seem  to  prove  that  there  was  a  struggle  still 
going  on  in  his  conscience,  of  which  he  would  fain  have 
relieved  himself.  Quiroga,  after  the  defeat,  fled  to  the 

-  Llanos ;  Aldao  naturally  went  back  to  his   brothers. 
But  many  changes  had  taken  place  in  his  absence :  a 


254  LIFE  IN   THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

division  from  San  Juan  marching  to  Cordova,  revolted 
on  the  way,  and  joined  the  Unitarios,  who  were  san- 
guine of  success,  but  unskilled  in  the  art  of  war.  The 
two  Aldaos  then  rtt  Mendoza,  pursued  them,  and  aftejr 
a  few  marches  and  countermarches,  conquered  them 
without  firing  a  shot. 

On  returning  to  Mendoza,  the  victorious  troops, 
hearing  of  the  victory  at  Tablada,  revolted  and  threw- 
the  power  into  the  hands  of  the  liberal  party,  which 
showed  no  more  prudence  than  it  had  done  at  San 
Juan.  These  mistaken  men  persisted  in  immediately 
establishing  their  long-desired  constitutional  forms,  re- 
spect for  life  being  their  great  maxim,  and  parliaments 
ary  discussion  their  means  of  action.  Their  enemies 
took  advantage  of  this  infatuation  to  ridicule  them,  and 
to  endeavor  again  to  overthrow  their  plans,  while  a 
magnificent  system  of  government  was  maturing  under 
the  direction  of  General  Albarado. 

The  brothers  Jos£  and  Francisco  were  planning 
within  their  prison  walls  their  reestablishment  in  power^; 
while  the  monk  presented  himself  in  the  neighborhood^ 
and  with  sixty  men  and  the  use  of  skillful  intrigues,  - 
opened  a  campaign  against  a  government  dependent 
upon  a  fanatical  people,  two  thousand  men  under  arms, 
and  a  man  of  reputation  at  its  head.  The  prisoners 
soon  escaped,  and  the  discussion  of  terms  of  conciliation 
by  the  feeble  government,  gave  time  and  resources  to 
the  Aldaos.  The  die  was  cast,  and  the  fate  of  Mendoza 
was(  decided.  A  month  was  sufficient  for  the  army  to 
be  nemmed  in,  and  even  fired  upon  in  the  streets. 

Facundo  Quiroga  sent  several  hundred  gauchos  from 
Rioja  to  aid  the   three  colonels  of  Mendoza,  who  had. 


EL  PILAR.  255 

assembled  a  considerable  number  of  mountaineers.  The  v 
government  troops  were  exasperated  at  the  inactivity 
in  which  they  were  kept  by  Albarado,  and  rebelled, 
insisting  upon  being  led  to  battle.  Finally  the  very 
sufferings  of  those  who  had  felt  the  power  of  the  Al- 
daos  aroused  them,  and  they  went  out  to  seek  their 
enemies.  In  "  el  Pilar,"  of  sad  memory,  they  found 
themselves  surrounded,  not  having  taken  a  good  posi- 
tion. In  the  evening  twenty  thousand  shots  were  fired, 
and  'a  hundred  cannonades  were  discharged  by  the 
surrounded  troops,  and  the  next  day  the  firing  contin- 
ued until  twelve  o'clock,  yet  they  had  not  made  their 
way  out.  The  Aldaos  knew  that  the  ammunition  was 
exhausted,  and  entrenched  their  men  behind  breast- 
w.orks.  Messages  from  Quiroga  urged  them  to  make 
no  treaty,  and  to  promise  nothing.  "  We  must,"  said 
he,  "have  as  many  enemies  as  possible  to  extort  money 
from."  But  the  people  of  Mendoza,  hearing  the  inces- 
sant firing  for  two  days,  thought  that  by  this  time  few 
survivors  could  remain,  and  the  bereaved  women  ran 
through  the  streets  entreating  the  priests  and  other 
influential  persons  to  separate  the  combatants.  A 
committee  of  priests  approached  the  battle-field,  se- 
lected neutral  ground  for  a  treaty,  and  it  was  agreed 
that  all  should  submit  to  a  government  chosen  by  the 
people.  The  Aldaos  must  have  laughed  at  the  sim- 
plicity of  their  enemies,  who  were  already  conquered 
'  and  prisoners,  and  yet  maintained  the  proud  bearing^ 
of  free  citizens.  But  Providence  did  not  permit  the 
farce  to  be  enacted  to  the  end,  for  it  was  to  finish  witk 
a  tragedy  which  filled  even  the  actors  with  horror. 
It  was  about  half-past  three  in  the  afternoon  when 


256  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

the  treaty  was  completed  ;  the  soldiers  stacked  their 
arms,  officers  collected  in  groups  congratulating  them- 
selves upon  getting  out  of  the  difficulty  so  easily. 
Francisco  Aldao  came  into  the  enemy's  camp,  where 
he  was  cordially  received,  and  in  the  lively  conversa- 
tion which  arose,  many  a  jest  was  exchanged  by  men 
who  had  formerly  been  friends.  At  this  moment  an 
emissary  from  the  monk  presented  himself,  and  de- 
manded unconditional  surrender,  under  pain  of  death. 
Cries  of  indignation  burst  from  all  sides,  and  Francisco 
was  loaded  with  the  most  bitter  reproaches,  but  he  said 
with  quiet  dignity,  "  Sirs,  there  is  nothing  in  all  this  ; 
Felix  has  just  dined,  that  is  all."  And  he  repeated 
these  w'ords  with  a  peculiar  emphasis,  at  the  same  time 
sending  an  aide  to  inform  Felix  that  he  was  there,  and* 
that  the  slightest  manifestation  on  his  part  would  be  a. 
violation  of  the  treaty. 

The  alarm  spread  rapidly,  however,  the  cry  of  trea- 
son arose  throughout  the  camp,  and  the  officers  were 
in  vain  calling  upon  the  men  to  form,  when  six  cannon- 
balls  were  fired  directly  into  the  group  in  the  midst  of 
which  Francisco  Aldao  stood.  If  the  cannonade  had . 
been  a  moment  later,  Jose*  Aldao  also  would  have  been 
there,  for  he  was  just  on  the  point  of  starting,  when  he 
was  surprised  by  the  discharge,  and  exclaimed,  "  That 
is  the  work  of  Felix,  —  he  is  drunk  I  "  This  was  but 
too  true,  the  monk  was  intoxicated,  according  to  his" 
usual  afternoon  custom  ;  only  a  few  days  before  they  " 
had  been  obliged  to  keep  him  in  bed  to  save  him  from 
some  gaucho  enemies  while  in  this  condition. 

Confusion  prevailed    everywhere,   and   reached  its 
height  at  the  approach  of  the  Auxiliaries  of  Don  Felix, 


FILAR.  257 

and  the  Blues  from  San  Juan.  A  moment  after  the 
monk  himself  came  into  the  camp,  and  seeing  a  dead 
body  lying  upon  a  cannon  wrapped  in  a  cloak,  a  vague 
presentiment  induced  him  to  command  the  face  to  be 
uncovered ;  even  then  the  fumes  of  the  wine  prevented 
him  from  recognizing  it,  and  his  attendants  tried  to 
make  him  withdraw,  before  he  should  perceive  that  it 
was  his  brother ;  but  he  again  demanded  sternly, 
"  Who  is  it  ?  "  At  the  same  instant  he  recognized 
Francisco,  and  struck  his  head  violently  with  his  fist, 
as  if  awakening  out  of  a  dream.  Woe  to  the  con- 
quered !  The  carnage  commenced,  and  he  cried  with 
a  hoarse  voice  to  his  men,  "  Slay  !  slay  them  !  "  while 
he  killed  the  defenseless  prisoners  about  him.  The 
officers  were  all  cut  down  or  left  wounded  and  muti- 
lated, without  arms,  without  hands.  Day  closed  before 
the  butchery  ceased,  and  the  troops  returned  to  the 
city,  but  every  shot  which  broke  the  silence  of  the 
night,  announced  an  assassination  or  the  breaking  open 
of  some  door.  When  the  following  day  dawned,  the 
-pillage  was  still  going  on,  and  the  sunlight  revealed 
-the  outrages  of  the  night. 

The  actors  in  this  frightful  tragedy  were  themselves 
stunned  with  the  horror  of  their  own  work,  and  the 
monk  became  aware  of  all  that  he  had  done,  and  the 
death  of  his  brother  whom  he  had  sacrificed.  But  he 
was  not  a  man  to  show  his  remorse,  and  if  he  felt  any 
he  sought  to  stifle  it  by  delivering  himself  up  to  intoxi- 
cation and  still  further  outrages.  Thus  the  evil  pro-** 
pensities  which  had  been  for  a  time  under  restraint,- 
broke  forth  again  ;  and  revenge  for  his  brother's  death 
was  an  excuse  for  every  excess.  He  had  caused  all 

17 


258  LIFE  IF  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

the  officers  to  be  put  to  death  on  that  uncontested  bat- 
tle-field ;  the  next  day  he  ordered  the  execution  of  all 
the  sergeants,  and  on  the  next  the  corporals.  Every 
time  he  became  intoxicated  his  thirst  for  blood  returned 
with  redoubled  fury,  and  there  are  still  persons  alive 
who  heard  him  give  orders  for  various  assassinations, 
with  minute  directions  as  to  the  manner  in  which  they 
were  to  be  accomplished  ;  that  at  such  a  spot,  at  such 
an  hour,  the  legs  of  a  certain  victim  were  to  be  cut  off; 
in  another  case  the  tongue  was  to  be  cut  out,  and  in 
another  the  face  was  to  be  so  mutilated  as  not  to  be 
recognized.  Such  deeds  of  barbarity  were  then  un- 
heard of  and  surpassed  all  imagination,  but  now  they 
are  common  enough,  and  Buenos  Ayres,  Tucuman, 
Cordova,  and  Mendoza,  have  become  familiar  with  still 
greater  atrocities.  Terror  had  then  paralyzed  the  peo- 
ple, and  when  Quiroga  arrived,  he  found  it  easy  to 
obtain  all  the  money  he  desired.  There  is  still  in  ex- 
istence an  order  which  he  drew  upon  the  government 
for  the  payment  of  his  gaming  debts  ;  for  wherever  he 
went  the  silence  imposed  by  the  terror  of  his  name  was 
only  disturbed  by  rumors  of  punishments  and  execu- 
tions for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  means  to  carry  on 
his  games  at  the  card-table.  Mendoza  remained  under 
this  evil  influence,  and  a  large  army  was  prepared  to 
resist  General  Paz. 

During  the  monk's  rage  for  blood,  his  wife  or  mis- 
tress saved  the  lives  of  many  victims.  His  brother 
Jose*,  more  considerate  and  more  humane  than  himself, 
also  tried  to  appease  his  fury,  but  with  each  evening 
came  intoxication  and  unpremeditated  outrages.  From 
this  time  Aldao  lived  in  a  state  of  continual  alarm,  em- 


ALDAO  AND  FACUNDO.  259 

bittered  by  that  horror  of  himself  which  was  the  only 
punishment  he  received  in  this  world  ;  for  while  his 
less  criminal  brother  Jose*  was  assassinated,  he  died  a 
natural  death,  feared  and  obeyed  to  the  last.  But 
Providence  works  in  secret  and  he  will  surely  meet 
his  deserts.  £- 

A  new  army  commenced  another  campaign  against ' 
General  Paz.     Aldao  had  filled  up  the  vacancies  in  his    x 
company  of  auxiliaries,  and  Facundo  had  gathered  an 
undisciplined    crowd  of  four   or  five   thousand  men. 
Aldao   was  accompanied  by  Don   Jose*  Santos  Ortizv 
who  was  intrusted  with  the  mission  of  trying  to  induce   - 
Quiroga  to  join  with  Paz  in  carrying  on  the  war  with 
Buenos  Ay  res,  and  it  seems  that  Quiroga  came  near 
accepting  the  propositi6n.     Paz  on  his  part  sent  Major 
Pawnero,1  a  young  man  whose  intelligence  equaled  his    '- 
bravery,  to  make  proposals  of  peace  to  Quiroga.     But 
Quiroga's  pride  urged  him  to  wipe  out  the  mortifica- 
tion of  his  defeat  at  Tablado.     The  battle  of  Laguna  ; 
Larga  taught  Quiroga  that  his  heavy  cavalry  charges 
could  not  be  always  relied  upon ;  a  simple  maneuver  of  v 
the  infantry  on  the  other  side  decided  the  victory,  and 
Quiroga  fled  to  Buenos  Ayres,  leaving  on  the  field  his  ' 
infantry,  artillery,  and  baggage.     During  the  pursuit 
of  the  fugitives,  a  stout  man  whose  weight  had  ex- 
hausted his  horse,  was  overtaken  and  thrown  down  by 
a  lance.     A  soldier  was  about  to  make  an  end  of  him, 
when  he  cried,  "  Do  not  kill  me,  it  is  important  to  the" 
nation  that  I  should  be  taken  alive  to  General  Paz.     I 
am  General  Aldao." 

An  officer  took  charge  of  him  as  far  as  Cordova, 

1  Now  candidate  for  the  Vice-Presidency  of  the  Republic,  1868.    (ED.)     ( 


260  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

where  a  humiliating  reception  awaited  him.  Some 
officers  from  Mendoza,  carried  away  by  their  desire  ] 
for  revenge,  made  him  enter  the  town  mounted  upon  a 
wretched  animal,  exposed  to  the  insults  of  the  people. 
"  Wretch  !  "  they  shouted,  "  thou  hast  brought  de- 
struction upon  thy  country  !  "  "I  have  also  brought 
it  much  glory,"  replied  the  prisoner,  with  dignity,  for 
the  insults  of  his  enemies  had  restored  all  his  courage. 
He  was  then  carried  to  prison,  where  he  might  reflect 
upon  his  past  deeds  in  silence  and  solitude,  and  the 
retrospection  became  so  intolerable  that  he  excited  the 
contempt  of  his  jailers  by  his  terror  and  childish  exhib- 
itions of  alarm.  He  implored  every  one  who  came 
near  him  to  tell  him  if  anything  was  said  about  his  , 
death,  and  the  ordinary  noises  about  the  prison  filled 
J  him  with  fears,  until  at  last  he  could  no  longer  sleep  ^ 
at  night,  and  never  ceased  his  suspicious  watch  upon 
his  jailers.  Some  priests  undertook  to  reconcile  him  ' 
with  the  church,  and  whether  through  fear,  or  real 
repentance,  he  eagerly  acceded  to  their  propositions. 
One  day  while  listening  to  Don  Jose*  Santos  Ortiz,  he  ' 
happened  to  look  at  a  sentinel  before  his  door,  who 
knowing  the  terror  he  was  constantly  in,  maliciously 
passed  his  hand  across  his  own  throat  with  a  significant 
motion,  and  Aldao  throwing  the  breviary  from  him, 
cried,  "  They  will  kill  me  to-day !  they  will  kill  me !  " 
His  companion  tried  in  vain  to  tranquillize  him,  by 
representing  that  he  would  have  to  be  tried  and  legally 
condemned  before  he  could  be  executed ;  he  only  be- 
came the  more  agitated,  saying,  "  Ah,  you  have  not 
done  what  I  have  done  !  "  The  soldier  who  had  been 
famous  for  his  bold,  reckless  audacity,  did  not  dare  to 


PETITION  OF  MENDOZA.  261 

look  death  in  the  face,  and  showed  the  cowardice  of  a 
child. 

In  the  mean  time  the  people  of  Mendoza  had  again 
thrown  off  the  yoke  of  the  tyrants.  Don  Jose  Aldao, 
unfortunately  for  himself,  conceived  the  idea  of  escajv 
ing  to  the  south,  and  trusting  in  the  faith  of  the  In- 
dians ;  but  the  perfidious  savages,  having  invited  him 
and  all  his  principal  officers  to  a  consultation,  surrounded 
them ;  and  though  Don  Jose  succeeded  in  killing  their 
chief,  he  and  his  friends,  to  the  number  of  thirty,  were 
all  slain. 

The  people  of  Mendoza  whom  the  monk  Aldao  had 
so  terribly  wronged,  petitioned  General  Paz  to  deliver  ' 
him  up  to  them  —  and  I  mean  the  people  in  the  larg- 
est sense  of  the  word,  for  all  had  suffered  by  him  more 
or  less,  and  the  craving  for  revenge  seemed  to  be  a, 
disease  which  seized  upon  the  whole  community.  No  -  / 
punishment  could  be  invented  severe  enough  for  him  ;  . 
but  at  least  a  gallows  should  be  erected  for  him  in  the 
field  of  Pilar,  and  it  should  be  high  enough  for  all  the 
city  to  see  him  expire  in  the  midst  of  their  execrations. 
One  committee  after  another  was  sent  to  Cordova  to 
press  their  claim  to  the  prisoner,  as  one  connected  in  a 
peculiar  manner  with  Mendoza,  but  General  Paz  was 
deaf  to  all  these  entreaties,  and  for  the  time  there  was 
still  a  chance  that  Aldao  might  some  day  escape  from 
his  prison. 

The    war   recommenced  about   this   time,   and   an 
accident   which   only  an   Argentine    can    understand, 
took  General  Paz  from  the  head  of  his  army.     Having 'i 
drawn  up  his  men  in  a  close  column,  he  rode  forward 
to  a   small  eminence   to  reconnoitre,  when,  seeing  a 


262  ,.LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

company  of  mountaineers  coming  out  of  the  woods 
hard  by,  he^supposed  them  to  be  some  of  his  own  troops 
whom  he  had  disguised  as  gauchos,  and  commanded  an 
aide  to  go  and  give  them  the  necessary  orders.  The 
aide  obeyed  unwillingly,  being  somewhat  suspicious  of 
the  new  comers,  and  as  he  neared  them  was  instantly 
shot,  while  at  the  same  moment  Paz  was  caught  in  a 
lasso,  thrown  from  his  horse,  and  was  instantly  in  the 
hancls  of  his  enemies.  The  army,  deprived  of  the  com- 
mander whose  presence  always  insured  victory,  re-* 
treated  to  Tucuman,  and  sent  into  the  city  for  fhe 
prisoners. 

A  squadron  of  cuirassiers  had  formed  in  the  square 
at  Cordova,  fti  front  of  the  state-prisons,  from  one  of 
which  came  frightful  groans,  breaking  the  silence  of  the 
night,  and  exciting  the  compassion  even  of  the  oldest 
veterans.  The  prisoner  of  Laguna  Larga,  the  soldier 
of  the  War  of  Independence,  was  on  his  knees,  under 
the  influence  of  unmanly  fear,  groaning  and  sobbing 
in  the  belief  that  these  nocturnal  preparations  were  for 
his  death  ;  the  officer  who  went  in  search  of  him  found 
him  with  a  wafer,  which  he  had  consecrated,  and  held 
in  both  hands  as  a  protection  against  his  executioners. 
The  prisoner,  in  his  hour  of  need,  had  resumed  his 
priestly  offices,  and  the  theologians  of  the  university 
of  Cordova  had  a  long  discussion  upon  the  efficacy  of 
the  consecration  of  the  wafer  as  performed  by  him. 
Being  quieted  with  much  difficulty,  the  miserable  man , 
followed  the  army  to  Tucuman,  and  after  the  defeat  at 
Ciudadela,  he  accompanied  the  fugitives  to  Bolivia,  ; 
where  they  set  him  at  liberty.  Here  ends  one  of  the 
most  eventful  periods  in  the  life  of  Don  Felix,  the  only 
one  of  the  trio  then  alive. 


CAKD-PLAYING.  263 

I 

The  battle  of  Ciudadela  left  the  Republic  once  more 
at  peace  after  the  long  previous  struggle..  The'  men 
who  had  been  in  favor  of  confederation  had  triumphed  ' 
everywhere,  from  Buenos  Ayres  to  Tucuman,  and  were 
now  about  i;o  establish  their  form  of  government  and 
to  reconstruct  the  Republic.  But  instead  of  this,  Fa- 
cundo  established  a  card-table  in  every  city  he  visited ; 
and  with  six  hundred  thousand  dollars  obtained  by  the 
year's  conquests,  went  to  Buenos  Ayres  to  become  the 
victim  of  another  commander  more  >*6tute  than  him- 
self, who  had  determined  to  dispose  of  any  man  in  the 
country  who  could  in  any  way  be  his  i^yal.  The  same 
indifference  to  the  real  interests  of  the  people  was  man-  i 
ifested  everywhere,  and  this  state  of  things  continued  } 
until  1840,  though  within  the  ten  years  Rosas  estab- 
lished his  power  over  the  caudillos  of  tha  interior^  while 
allowing  them  a  nominal  authority.  The  cities  hopfed 
than  Facundo  would  reconstruct  the  Republic  -^a  vain 
'hope.  They  are  now  hoping  that  Rosas  will  be  merci- 
ful to  them  if  he  succeeds  in  getting  rid  of  hisjenemies. 

Don  Felix  returned  to  Mendoza  in  1832,  and  on  his 
way  through  Rioja  had  an  interview  with  Facundo,  who 
had  with  him  the  noble  Barcala.  Aldao's  first  words 
were,  "  When  are  you  going  to  shoot  that  negro  ?  " 
Quiroga  frowned  and  seemed  ill-pleased ;  in  fact  he 
showed  a  haughty  contempt  for  the  monk,  and  wrote 
to  the  officers  at  Mendoza  not  to  admit  him  into  the 
army.  But  when  Aldao  presented  himself,  his  per- 
sonal influence  was  still  too  strong  to  be  resisted,  and 
the  governor  received  him  with  offers  of  assistance,  and 
bestowed  upon  him  the  title  of  commander-general  o 
the  frontier.  He  accepted  the  office,  demanding  at  the 


264  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

j 

same  time  that  his  salary  should  be  paid  from  the  date 
of  his  imprisonment  at  Tablado ;  he  was  evidently  de- 
termined to  secure  for  himself  a  comfortable  and  per- 
manent establishment  —  the  condition  of  the  country 
seeming  to  promise  peace  and  quiet  for  the  present. 

He  took  up  his  quarters  in  one  of  the  southern  forts, 

provided  himself  with  a   body-guard,  and  sent  for  a 

coarse,  ignorant  woman,  by  the  name  of  Dolores,  with 

whom  he  had  become  enamored  in  Rioja.     Mendoza 

had  for  some  time  witnessed  the  jealous  rivalry  of  his 

;       Lima  mistress  and  this  Dolores,  and  the  latter  being 

.  finally  victorious,  her  rival  went  back  to  Chili,  leaving 

two  illegitimate  children.     An   unfortunate  influence 

v  _      -  * 

for  the  people  was  this  utter  disregard  of  morality  — 

vice  in  its  most  repugnant  forms,  —  an  apostate  priest, 

unchaste  women,   illegitimate,  .children,  whose   illegal 

/  birth  was  7lso~sacreligious.    Aldao  omitted  no  cares  for 

/    his  personal  safety,  and  his  body-guard  never  left  him 

for  a  moment,  not  even  when  he  sat  at  the  card-table  ; 

""and  the  fort  from  hall  to  cellar  was  on,e  constant  scene 

'  of  ^dissipation.     Excitement  became    more   and  more 

necessary  to  him,  and   when   he  visited  the  city  he 

ordered  preparations  for   card  playing  as  if  it  were  a 

regular  part  of  public  affairs.     It  is  impossible  to  give 

an   idea  of  the   degradation  into  which  this  man  had 

fallen,  his  debasing  pleasures  and  entire  forge tfulness 

/  of  business.     It  is  true  that  neither  the  Aldaos  nor 

\  Quiroga  ever  really  governed ;  they  left  to  others  the 

labors  of  the  administration,  while  they  reserved  for 

themselves  all  the  power. 

Don  Felix  now  governed  Mendoza,  through  nominal 
governors  who  dared  not  displease  him  in  anything; 


RODRIGUEZ.  265 

and  his  most  casual  remark  uttered  in  his  own  fort,  was 
enough  to  affect  the  government,  and  often  became  an 
absolute  law.  And  this  lasted  for  ten  years,  until  con- 
stant intoxication  brought  his  life  to  an  end* 

In  1832,  Rosas  prepared  an  expedition  to  the  south, 
and  invited  the  caudillos  of  the  interior  to  cooperate 
with  him  for  the  protection  of  their  respective  frontiers, 
hoping  by  this  means  to  make  the  pretext  of  an  attack 
on  the  Indians  cover  an  extensive  military  combination 
which  he  meant  to  use  for  his  own  elevation  to  power. 
Don  Felix  induced  one  tribe  to  attack  another  tribe, 
and  deliver  them  prisoners  to  his  troops  ;  both  tribes, 
however,  united  while  on  the  way,  and  after  putting  to 
death  sixty  of  the  Mendoza  soldiers,  fled  to  the  deserj.. 
Aldao  followed  and  exterminated  them,  and  this  was-* 
all  that  was  accomplished  by  the  famous  expedition  ; 
but  Aldao  made  by  it  a  valuable  acquisition.  Among 
the  soldiers  of  his  division  was  one  Rodriguez,  a  man  of 
great  bravery,  whom  he  took  under  his  especial  pro- 
tection, and  promoted  to  the  command  of  a  squadron.  , 
The  monk  was  then  becoming  stout,  incapable  of  ac-* 
tion,  and  given  up  to  intoxication,  so  that  he  would 
have  been  unable  to  sustain  his  power  and  reputation 
but  for  this  Rodriguez,  who,  by  proxy,  still  maintained 
the  terror  of  his  name. 

Rosas  having  obtained  absolute  powej  in  1833,  care- 
fully studied  the  capacities  of  the  various  caudillos  of 
the  interior,  that  he  might  quietly  bring  them  under 
submission  ;  and  this  conquest  of  the  provinces  is  one 
of  the  greatest  acts  of  diplomacy  accomplished  by  him. 
Soon  afterwards  he  won  over  the  auxiliaries  of  San 
Juan  ;  had  Quiroga  put  to  death  ;  got  rid  of  his  own 


266  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

tools,  the  Remaps  ;  deposed  Cullen,  of  Santa  Fe*,ancf 
then  had  him  shot ;  and  made  Benavides  governor  of 
Ban  Juan  in  place  of  Yanzon.  Barcala,  the  virtuous 
Barcala,  was  shot  by  the  monk,  who  was  now  in  the 
pay  of  Rosas.  Brizuela,  of  Rioja,  unrivaled  for  his  bru- 

'tality,  was  kept  in  command,  notwithstanding  the  zeal 
of  Benavides,  his  neighbor.     Ibarra  had  quietly  gov- 
erned Santiago  del  Estero  for  eighteen  years.    In  short, 
^   everything  was  arranged  for  the  decline  of  the  Repub- 
lic into  barbarism,  when  the  despotic  power  of  Rosas 
would   be   confirmed.      Unfortunately  there   was   no 
connected  plan  of  resistance,  no  union,  no   leaders. 
Rosas  had  forbidden  the  passage  of  couriers  throughout 
the  interior,  and  the  general  want  of  confidence  made 
>     any  agreement  between  the  cities   impossible.      The 
rebellion  broke  out,  and  the  provinces  joined  in  it  one 
t    •  >after  another,  but  in  the  end  were  all  forced  to  yield, 
paralyzed  by  the  horrors  of  unheard-of  outrages.   Never 
was  a  revolution  more  universal  or  more  ineffectual. 

^  Rosas  would  have  lost  his  cause  but  for  the  weakness 
of  his  enemies. 

Aldao  together  with  Benavides  now  started  on  a 
campaign  against  Brizuela,  who,  unfortunately  for  the 
honor  of  their  cause,  had  joined  the  patriots.  It  is 
hardly  to  be  believed  that  a  man  in  his  position  should 
make  such  a  brute  of  himself  as  to  remain  intoxicated 
for  six  months  at  a  time,  without  once  seeing  the  light 
of  day,  or  being  for  a  moment  in  condition  to  receive 
the  ambassadors  from  the  different  governors,  or  even 
Lavalle  himself,  who  waited  several  days  in  vain  for 
an  audience.  And  Aldao  behaved  in  the  same  way  at 
San  Luis,  only  not  quite  to  the  same  extent. 


ACHA.  267, 

The  appearance  of  a  small  force  commanded  by  the 
brave  young  Alvarez,  caused  the  division  of  Benavides 
to  disperse  ;  while  the  monk  retreated,  and  by  a  rapid 
march  reached  Mendoza  in  time  to  put  down  the  re- 
bellion of  the  4th  of  November.  The  people  looked 
for  nothing  else  than  a  repetition  of  the  slaughter  of 
1829,  but  Aldao  contented  himself  with  some  persecu- 
tion and  imposition  of  taxes.  His  rage  for  shedding 
blood  seemed  to  have  ceased,  and  from  this  time  no 
such  wholesale  murders  would  have  taken  place  in 
Mendoza  but  for  his  disciples,  who  had  profited  but  too 
well  by  his  former  example. 

Aldao  again  joined  Benavides,  and  with  hjm  con- 
quered Brizuela,  both  of  them  then  taking  up  quarters 
in  Kioja,  in  order  to  intercept  the  army  under  Madrid, 
which  was  approaching  from  the  north. 

>^  One  day  the  news  came  to  San  Juan  that  a  division 
from  Tucuman  was  near  at  hand,  and  eight  hundreds 
"tnen  went  out  to  meet  them,  but  were  repulsed.    Then 
Acha,  the  immortal  Acha,  went  with  a  handful  of  men 
to  meet  the  united  forces  of  Benavides,  Aldao,  and 
Lucero,  amounting  in  all  to  twenty-five  hundred  men, 
with  four  pieces  of  artillery ;  and  this  battle  of  Angaco 
is  the  one  glorious  event  amidst  the  errors,  failures,  J 
and  defeats  of  that  period. 

Acha's  men  were  only  about  four  hundred}  little 
disciplined,  and  unacquainted  with  the  country,  bufrto 
make  up  for  these  disadvantages,  he  had  with  him  $ 
number  of  truly  patriotic  young  men  of  high  standing, 
in  the  army,  and  their  enthusiasm  gave  to  the  little 
company  the  strength  of  double  their  number.  As  tne 
troops  of  the  enemy  quietly  took  their  position,  Acha 


268  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

stood  playing  with  a  little  switch,  and  with  a  smile 
"which  was  habitual  with  him,  pointed  to  the  enemy 
and  cried,  "  Rascals !  now  for  real  work  !  "  The 
battle  commenced,  and  a  deadly  firing  was  kept  up 
for  five  long  hours,  the  infantry  of  Benavides  being 
within  three  yards  of  Acha's  company ;  for  Aldao  had 
fled,  leaving  his  companion  to  take  care  of  himself. 
The  young  Alvarez,  who  was  seriously  wounded  early 
in  the  contest,  left  a  vacancy  which  could  not  be  filled  ; 
and  presently,  when  the  men  became  discouraged  and 
.wavered  in  their  resistance,  he  had  his  wound  hastily 
bandaged  and  returned  to  his  place,  animating  his 
soldiers  by  his  eager  enthusiasm,  till  they  rushed  again 
into  the  fight  with  redoubled  ardor.  As  evening  came 
on,  all  order  seemed  lost,  and  each  man  fought  on  his 
own  account ;  little  groups  of  cavalry,  of  ten,  twelve, 
or  twenty  men,  charged  upon  the  enemy  from  all 
directions,  and  at  last  when  the  noise  lessened  some- 
what, and  the  smoke  of  the  powder  cleared  away,  Acha 
found,  not  without  some  surprise,  that  he  had  won  the 
:day.  With  his  usual  smile,  he  congratulated  his  weary 
soldiers,  saying,  "  Did  I  not  say  there  would  be  some 
work  worth  seeing  ?  "  It  is  a  pity  that  this  remarkable 
man  should  have  somewhat  lessened  his  reputation  by 
a  foolish  carelessness,  which  at  last  cost  him  his  life. 
On  the  other  hand,  Benavides  gained  his  reputation  by 
an  act  of  bravery  which  would  have  done  honor  to  any 
general  in  the  army. 

The  victory  of  Angaco  might  have  been  the  means 
of  saving  the  Republic,  had  Acha  done  justice  to  the 
Bravery  and  self-possession  of  his  enemy.  Benavides, 
thus  conquered  by  a  handful  of  men,  returned  to  San 


RODEO  DEL  MEDIO.  269 

Juan  without  showing  the  least  discouragement,  though 
his  best  officers  had  fallen,  and  all  his  stores  were  -at 
the  mercy  of  his  victorious  rival.     He  was  retreating 
without  haste  to  Mendoza,  when  he  met  a  small  rein- 
forcement, and  with  this  aid,  little  as  it  was,  he  con- 
ceived the  possibility  of  a  triumph,  and  determined  to  ' 
take  immediate  advantage  of  circumstances.     Hastily 
returning,  therefore,  he  attacked  his  unsuspecting  con- 
querors, and  after  three  days  of  vain  resistance,  took 
Acha  himself  prisoner,  thus  recovering  all  that  he  had 
lost,  and  winning  as   great  renown  as  the  battle  of 
Angaco  had  given  to  his  prisoner.     When  Madrid  hajl 
been  deprived  of  his  vanguard,  of  the  recruits  which _J.. 
San  Juan  might  have  furnished,  and  of  the  chivalrouV 
Acha,  — a  host  within  himself, — it  was  easy  to  strength- 
en the  forces  of  Rosas  under  command  of  Pacheco.   The 
battle  of  Rodeo  del  Medio  was  a  corollary  of  the  tri- 
umph  at  San  Juan,  and  entirely  owing  to  Benavides.     - 
As  to  Aldao,  his  cowardly  flight  from  the  field  of. 
Angaco,  had  placed  him  in  a  humiliating  position ;  all 
his  former  military  fame  seemed  to  have  been  trans- 
ferred to  Benavides,  and  in  his  own  province  he  was 
regarded  with  open  contempt.     He  made  a  journey  to 
Buenos  Ayres  for  the  purpose  of  complaining  to  his 
master,  and  was  rewarded  by  a  magnificent  reception. 
But  this  was  followed  by  no  attention  from  Rosas ;  he  'S 
waited  many  months  without  obtaining  an  interview,^ 
and  was  then  obliged  to  return  to  his  own  territory, 
which  the  army  of  Rosas  had  in  the  meantime  despoiled 
of  all  implements  of  war.     Henceforth  Aldao  had  no 
other  power  than  that  obtained  through  Rodriguez  and  • ' 
his  band ;  this,  however,  was  enough  to  enable  him  to  »• 


270  LIFE  IN   THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

rule  Mendoza,  which  had  learned  by  years  of  oppression 
to  submit  to  him.     Eosas  had  placed  all  real  power  in 

J  the  hands  of  Benavides,  whose  prudence  as  well  as 

bravery  enabled  him  to  keep  it'.     The  rivalry  between 

•  these  two  commanders  was  encouraged  by  Rosas,  as  it 

insured  his  own  safety.  < 

Here  ends  the  public  career  of  Don  Felix  Aldao-;  * 

the  rest  of  his   life  was  only  the  gradual  decay  of  a 

-  F  constitution  broken  by  dissipation  and  the  hardships  of 
war,  and  to  the  end  he  was  pursued  by  the  scourge  of 
•his  own  conscience  and  the  maledictions  of  the  people. 
His  harem  had  been  increased  by  the  acquisition  of 
new  mistresses  ;  and  the  immoralities  and  scandal  of 
his  private  life  formed  the  common  topic  of  conversa- 
tion, where  the  shameful  rivalry  of  these  degraded 
women  was  openly  exposed ;  and  they  not  only  taunted 
each  other  with  their  degradation,  but  laid  violent  hands 
on  one  another  in  the  streets.  And  this  state  of  things 
was  the  more  abominable  because  the  administration 
of  the  government  was  affected  by  it.  Neither  justice 
nor  safety  even  was  to  be  expected  for  those  who 
should  happen  to  offend  the  reigning  favorite  of  the 
monk,  and  it  was  quickly  known  when  a  change  of 

,  dynasty  had  taken  place  in  the  seraglio.  Ladies  of  the 
first  families  suffered  outrageous  punishments  for  not 
treating  these  women  with  respect.  One  young  girl 

,  was  seated  on  a  mule  and  whipped  through  the  streets 
for  speaking  slightingly  of  one  of  the  mistresses ;  and 
the  principal  inhabitants  of  Mendoza  were  compelled 
to  meet  them  at  a  ball,  where  the  young  men  strove 
for  the  honor  of  dancing  with  the  coarse  creature  Do- 
lores, who  was  the  favorite  at  that  time.  On  the  death 


ALDAO'S  HAREM.  271 

of  one  of  the  illegitimate  children,  Montero,  the  chief 
of  the  police,  made  the  anouncement  publicly,  inviting 
the  citizens  to  attend  the  funeral,  and  the  principal  men 
of  the  place  bore  the  coffin,  which  was  richly  decorated 
and  accompanied  by  the  chief  magistrates,  who  walked '  • 
^before  and  behind  it,  while  a  military  procession  fol- 
lowed. 

When  Acha  and  Benavides  were  fighting  at  San 
Juan,  Montero  conducted  Dolores  to  the  barracks  at    • 
Mendoza,  where  she  aided  him  in  arousing  the  enthu-    * 
siasm  of  the  troops  destined:  to  march,  by  showing  them 
Aldao's  children,  and  calling  upon  them  to  support  and 
aid  their  general.     What  a  loss  this  general  was  to 
Rosas  !     Montero  only  could  supply  his  place.     Rosas 
needed  just  such  men  to  maintain  quiet  in  the  prov- 
inces.'   All  the  governors  had  some  peculiar  qualities  c 
by  which  they  served  the  ends  of  the  man  whose  tools 
they  were.     Brizuela  was  a  sponge  with  vast  capacity 
for  imbibing  brandy,  a  sort  of  wine-bottle,  who  governed 
admirably  in  Rioja.     Some  left  the  people  to  take  care 
of  themselves  while  they  got  up  cock-fights  and  races  ; 
others   shut   up  "the   government    offices   and   passed/ 
months  without  making  a  decree  or  using  any  admin-' 
istrative  forms  whatever ;    others  let  things  slicTe   on 
easily,  tolerating  everything,  but  an  intelligent  lawyer 
or  judge.      They  all  involuntarily  agreed  upon  one 
point,  the  gradual  disappearance  of  the  public  roads. 
Highwaymen  became  numerous,  schools  were  closed, 
trade    languished,  the    administration   of  justice    was 
given  up  to  stupid  or  ignorant  men,  the  press  was  nlled 
with  nothing  but  fulsome  praises  of  the  "  Restorator ;  "^ 
manners  were  fast  declining  towards  barbarism,  learn- 


272-          *  LIFE  IN  THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC.  •  v     .  .    ' 

ing  was  despised,  talent  persecuted,  and  ignorance1  be- 
.*came  a  title  to  honor.     And  these  governors  did  well 
.in  acting  thus  if  they  desired  to  remain,  in  favor,  for 
whoever  showed  any-  real  capacity,  or  any  interest  in. 
promoting  the  public  welfare,  was  soon  put  out  of  the 
way.     The  Dictator  had  arisen  to  power  through  the  \  * 
barbarism  of  the  people;  and  the  poverty  and  ignorance  » 
of  the  provinces  secured  him  from  all  dangerous  oppo-.r' 
sition.     The  best  governed  of  the  cities  scarcely  per- 
ceived the  gradual  decline,  for  despotism,  even  under 
its  most  favorable  circumstances,  is  for  a  people  what 
phthisis  is  for  the  body ;  the  patient  feels  no  pain,  eats, 
, steeps,  and  enjoys  himself  without  care  ;  it  is  only'the. 
physician  who  sees  death  surely  approaching.     Rosas 
assumed  for  himself  the  care  of  thinking  for  all ;  he 
must  be  the  head,  and  the  governors  of  the  provinces 
the  arms,  hands,  and  feet,  to  execute  his  will ;  each 
,  member  to  be  used,  according  to  its  capacity,  for  any^ 
.'thing  but  thought  in  behalf  of  the  Republic :  the  con- 
struction of  the  government  was  to  be  his  own  work.        - 

The  life  of  Felix  Aldao  was  now  drawing  to  a  close. 
For  a  year  before  his  death  he  was  troubled  with  a  - 
cancer  on  his  face,  which  eat  into  his  nose  and  eyes, 
until  he  became  partially  blind ;  while  the  odor  was  so- 
offensive  that  his  companions  at  the  card-table  could  * 
hardly  endure  it.     His  temper  did  not  improve  with  ] 
sickness,  and  he  became  so  suspicious  of  the  physicians* 
who  attended  him  that  they  were  obliged  to  flee,  feel- 
ing that  their  lives  were  in  danger.     During  this  year 
of  illness  no  one  dared  to  propose  a  temporary  gov- 
ernor, for  those  unfortunate  people  had  come  to  believe 
that  the  government  belonged  of  right  to  the  caudillos, 


DEATH  OF  ALDAO.  "273 

arid  that  it  would  be  treason  to  question  their  capabil- 
ity, even  when  ill.  Aldao  governed  Mendoza  to  the' 
last,  and  that  without  attending  to  anything  but  his 
own  health.  As  his  death  approached,  he  would  'not 
remain  alono  for  a  moment,  tormented  as  he  was  by 
the  terrors  of  his  imagination,  and  a  number  of  the 
citizens  were  obliged  to  take  turns  in  watching  with 
him.  One  night  he  sprang  from  his  bed  and  rushed  in 
among  them  with  a  pair  of  pistols  in  his  hands.  They 
without  waiting  to  see  that  the  wretched  creature  was  a 
prey  to  his  own  fears,  and  not  attacking  them,  fled  out 
of  the  house  ancf  the  town,  and  could  with  difficulty  be 
induced  to  return  the  next  day.  And  these  were  the 
citizens  of  the  Argentine  Republic  who  had  offended 
other  states  by  their  arrogant  pride  !  These  we^e  the 
people  who  had  irritated  Bolivar  by  their  overbearing 
manners  !  And  now  they  stumbled  over  one  another 
in  their  haste  to  run  away  from  a  sick  monk ! 
.  At  length,  after  months  of  acute  suffering,  the  can-1 
cer  caused  the  bursting  of  a  vein,  and  -the  hemorrhage 
continued  until  -he  expired  on  the  18th  of  January  — 
in  retribution  perhaps  for  the  blood  of  the  people  which 
had  flowed  without  stint  at  his  command.  Some  say 
that  he  went  back  to  the  church  and  died  penitent, 
leaving  a  large  part  of  his  wealth  to  the  Dominican 
order,  to  which  he  had  belonged.  According  to  the 
obituary  notices  he  made  Rosas  his  testamentary  exec- 
utor; as  the  Roman  proconsuls,  dying  in  the  provinces 
of  the  empire,  used  to  leave  their  wealth  to  the  em- 
peror, together  with  the  government  of  the  provinces. 
These  two  contradictory  statements  prove  at  least  one 
thing,  that  at  his  death  there  was  still  a  question  whether 
18 


274  LIFE  IN   THE  ARGENTINE  REPUBLIC. 

he  was  a  monk  or  a  general,  but  that  matters  little  to 
him  now.  With  the  money  acquired  by  oppressing 
the  people  of  Mendoza,  he  left  a  home  for  each  of  his 
three  families. 

With  so  much  that  was  bad,  this  man  must  have  had 
some  good  qualities,  for  he  had  friends  whose  affection 
was  never  weakened  by  absence  or  death,  and  no  one 
who  inspired  such  devotion  could  be  wholly  bad.  He 
was  also  beloved  by  his  soldiers,  many  of  whom  re- 
mained with  him  for  years.  He  was  in  the  habit  of 
sending  large  supplies  of  grain  to  the  poor  people  south 
of  Mendoza  ;  and  whenever  he  learned  of  the  arrival 
of  the  Chilian  families  who  frequently  emigrated  to 
Mendoza,  he  supplied  them  with  provisions  until  they 
could  establish  themselves.  And,  lastly,  those  who 
saw  him  intimately,  say  that  he  was  extravagantly 
fond  of  his  children,  whose  caresses  were  his  greatest 
pleasure. 

The  family  of  Aldao  is  now  represented  by  the 
acknowledged  children  of  three  women,  some  other 
natural  children,  and  the  legitimate  offspring  of  his 
brother  Don  Jose\  All  the  Aldaos  had  met  with  a 
tragic  end,  though  that  of  Felix  was  the  least  so.  All 
Mendoza  followed  his  body  to  the  church  within  which 
he  was  buried.  That  evening  the  Almeda  was  crowded 
with  persons  of  both  sexes  ;  until  then,  this  promenade, 
the  scene  of  much  bloodshed  when  Pacheco  was  there, 
had  been  entirely  unfrequented. 

The  only  benefit  which  Mendoza  received  during 
the  rule  of  this  governor,  was  the  settlement  of  its 
southern  frontier  by  emigrants  from  Chili,  who  col- 
lected iu  villages  under  the  protection  of  the  fort  of 


CONCLUSION.  275 

San  Carlos,  the  habitation  of  Aldao,  who  always  en- 
,couraged  this  emigration. 

Mendoza  is  now  without  a  governor  ;  it  remains  to 
be  seen  who  will  obtain  possession  of  it.  When  Rosas 
heard  that  the  monk  was  about  to  die,  he  sent  a  sister 
of  his  with  her  husband,  who  was  physician  and  also 
secretary  for  Aldao.  After  his  death,  when  the  choice 
of  a  new  governor  was  discussed,  Rodriguez  wras  in 
favor  of  the  secretary,  but  the  people  preferred  a  native 
of  the  city. 

I  have  now  concluded  my  self-imposed  task,  with 
the  fear  of  not  having  been  sufficiently  impartial  ;  yet 
it  is  my  misfortune  if  the  facts  are  not  strictly  correct. 
I  have  carefully  consulted  both  his  friends  and  ene- 
mies, and  the  old  soldiers  who  were  with  him  at  the 
beginning  of  his  career.  I  have  thrown  aside  all  that 
seemed  doubtful,  and  endeavored  to  moderate  every- 
thing that  was  exaggerated.  For  the  rest,  the  life  of 
such  a  man,  who  took  part  in  so  many  political  changes, 
should  be  brought  before  the  public  by  a  more  power- 
ful pen  than  mine.  The  biography  of  these  tools  of  a 
ruler,  shows  what  means  he  employs,  and  the  end  at 
which  he  aims. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCH. 

DON  DOMINGO  F.  SARMIENTO  was  born  in  1811,  the 
year  after  the  Argentine  Republic  had  achieved  its 
\  independence  of  Spain,  at  San  Juan,  the  capital  of  the 
province  of  that  name,  lying  on  the  eastern  skirts  of 
the  Andes.  He  was  descended  from  two  distinguished 
families  that  figured  in  the  colonization,  the  Sarmien- 
tos  and  the  Albarracines.  The  latter  were  descended 
from  a  Saracen  chief,  Al  Ben  Razin,  who,  in  the  mid- 
dle of  the  twelfth  century,  conquered  and  gave  name 
to  a  city,  and  founded  a  family  which  afterwards  be- 
came Christian. 

In  1846,  Colonel  Sarmiento  went  to  see  Arab  life  in 
the  interior  of  Algiers  ;  he  found  his  family  name  fa- 
miliar to  the  ears  of  the  people,  and  was  himself  taken 
for  an  Arab,  and  told  that  he  could  easily  be  mistaken 
for  one  of  the  faithful.  He  was  so  ambitious  as  to 
emulate  them  in  the  wearing  of  their  national  garment, 
the  bornoz ;  and  in  the  exhilaration  of  the  ride  into  the 
interior,  under  the  Arab  escort  that  the  French  com- 
mander had  furnished  him  with,  boasted  that  he  could 
ride  to  the  pyramids  without  halting.  They  took  him 
at  his  word,  and  though  the  pyramids  were  not  the  goal 
sought,  the  feat  nearly  cost  him  his  life  ;  but  the  vigor- 
ous habits  of  his  youth  saved  him.  When  he  found 
himself  in  the  tent  of  a  Saracen  chief,  and  looked  about 


GENEALOGY. 


him  to  see  the  characteristic  marks  of  Arab  life,  he  was  \ 
struck  with  amazement  to  find  himself  in  the  midst  of  • 
surroundings  so  precisely  like  those  of  his  native  wild 
plains,  that  the  conviction  was  brought  forcibly  home 
to  him,  that  the  gauchos  of  South  America  and  the 
Arabs  of  Africa  were  one  and  the  same  people.     It     \ 
was  a  disheartening  thought  to  him   that  he  saw  in    ! 
these  people  one  explanation  of  the  difficulty  of  civil- 
izing the  engrafted  population  of  those  Spanish  colo- 
nies, of  which  they  were  evidently  the  fountain-head, 
distilled  through  the  Catholicism  of  Spain,  and  where, 
though    they  had  perhaps    lost  the  tradition    of  their    f 
origin,  they  had  not  lost   the   elements  of  vis-inertia, 
and  repulsion  to  civilizing  influences. 

The  Albarracines  had  the  name  of  remarkable  abil- 
ities, which  had  been  transmitted  from  generation  to 
generation,  and  in  South  America  several  distin- 
guished writers  were  known  among  the  Dominican 
friars  that  abounded  in  the  family.  Prelates  and  bish- 
ops, historians  and  logical  writers  were  of  the  number, 
and  they  intermarried  with  a  family  of  Oros,  also  of 
remarkable  intellectual  ability.  The  Oros,  cousins  of 
his  mother,  who  were  curates  and  friars  of  education, 
always  had  open  house  and  hearts  for  the  young 
Sarmiento,  and  their  society  helped  to  cultivate  the 
faculties  of  the  brilliant  boy,  in  whom  culminated  the 
power  of  literary  expression  that  had  always  marked 
the  family.  One  of  these  able  men,  Don  Jose*  de  Oro, 
a  clergyman,  had  much  influence  in  the  formation  of 
his  character.  He  had  been  chaplain  of  a  regiment  in 
San  Martin's  army. 

After  some  patriotic  efforts  for  his   country  in  the 


278  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH. 

wars  against  the  Spaniards  in  Chili,  he  had  left  society 
and  retired  to  the  mountainous  region  of  Sari  Luis,  where 
his  nephew,  then  a  boy,  followed  him,  and  spent  three 
years  in  the  closest  intellectual  and  affectionate  inti- 
macy, studying  Latin,  and  listening  to  the  historical 
and  literary  reminiscences  of  the  holy  man,  who  fed 
the  active  and  open  mind  of  the  precocious  boy  with 
precious  principles  and  a  good  store  of  miscellaneous 
[knowledge.  History  and  the  polity  of  governments 
f  grew  to  be  the  passion  of  the  young  Sarmiento's  soul. 
^Fhe  appearance  of  Facundo  Quiroga  and  his  hordes 
in  his  native  province  and  city  had  made  a  profound 
impression  upon  him,  and  with  the  disastrous  history 
of  the  colonization  and  of  the  internal  wars  of  his  own 
country  as  a  point  of  departure,  and  the  influence  of 
his  uncle's  keen  and  vigorous  intellect  and  free  and 

O 

generous  views,  he  was  prepared  for  that  remarkable 
career  which  has  separated  him  from  the  body  of  his 
contemporaries  in  letters,  in  politics,  in  the  consecration 
of  his  life. 

But  I  will  not  anticipate.  The  earlier  domestic  his- 
tory of  his  life  was  a  still  more  remarkable  preparation. 

It  is  striking  to  see  ho\y  great  natures  will  mould  even 
the  most  adverse  circumstances.  One  can  conceive  of 
no  circumstances  more  adverse  to  the  growth  of  fine 
character  than  the  isolated,  provincial  life  of  a  Spanish 
colony,  ruled  by  ecclesiastical  domination,  exercised 
over  an  uneducated  mass  like  the  remote  descendants 
of  Spaniards  who  have  been  cut  off  for  two  or  three 
generations  from  means  of  improvement,  and  even 
from  the  knowledge  of  the  world's  progress.  Yet  here 
we  find  noble  natures  ready  to  respond  to  noble  teach- 
ings. 


RECOLLECTIONS  OF  A  PROVINCE.  279 

Dofia  Paula  Albarracine  was  the  daughter  of  Don 
Cornelio  Albarracine,  who  once  owned  half  the  valley 
of  La  Zonda,  and  troops  of  carts  and  mules,  but  died 
after  being  bedridden  for  twelve  years,  leaving  to  his 
fifteen  children  an  inheritance  of  poverty  and  various 
portions  of  wild  land.  But  I  leave  the  son  to  describe 
his  own  mother. 

PREFACE  TO   "THE  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  A  PROVINCE." 

"  THE  following  pages  are  purely  confidential,  addressed 
to  a  hundred  persons  only,  and  dictated  by  personal  con- 
siderations. 

"  In  a  letter  written  to  a  friend  of  my  childhood,  in  1832, 
I  had  the  indiscretion  to  call  Facundo  Quiroga  a  bandit. 
All  Argentines,  both  in  Europe  and  America,  now  agree 
that  it  was  a  just  epithet,  but  at  that  time  my  letter  was 
shown  to  a  bad  priest,  who  was  President  of  a  Chamber  of 
Representatives.  It  was  read  in  full  session,  a  sentence 
was  decreed  against  me,  and  they  had  the  meanness  to 
put  it  into  the  hands  of  the  offended  one,  who,  meaner  still 
than  his  flatterers,  insulted  my  mother,  calling  her  oppro- 
brious names,  and  assured  her  that  he  should  kill  me  when 
he  pleased,  and  wherever  I  could  be  found.  This  event, 
which  made  it  forever  impossible  for  me  to  return  to  my 
country  if  God  did  not  dispose  events  differently  from  what 
man  purposed  to  do,  was  repeated  sixteen  years  later  with 
consequences  apparently  still  more  alarming.  In  May, 
1843,  I  wrote  another  letter  to  an  old  benefactor,  in  which 
I  committed  the  indiscretion  (for  which  I  honor  myself,) 
of  characterizing  and  judging  the  government  of  Rosas, 
according  to  the  dictates  of  my  conscience,  and  this  letter^ 
like  that  of  1832,  was  sent  to  the  very  man  upon  whom  the 
judgment  was  pronounced.  All  my  countrymen  know  what 


280  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH. 

followed.  The  government  of  Buenos  Ayres  published  the 
letter,  made  a  requisition  for  me  upon  the  government  of 
Chili,  and  sent  the  diplomatic  note  and  the  letter  with  a 
circular  to  the  confederate  governors.  The  governor  of 
Chili  answered,  Rosas  replied,  the  circulars  were  repeated, 
the  answers  of  the  governors  of  the  interior  were  received  ; 
the  system  of  'giving  publicity  to  all  those  meannesses 
which  disgrace  the  human  race  more  than  they  can  any 
government,  was  continued,  and  apparently  the  farce  will 
go  on  without  its  being  possible  for  any  one  to  foresee  the 
denouement.  The  presses  of  all  the  neighboring  countries 
have  reproduced  the  publications  of  the  government  of 
Buenos  Ayres,  and  in  those  thirty  or  more  official  notes, 
the  name  of  D.  F.  Sarmiento  has  always  been  accompanied 
with  the  epithets,  *  infamous,  unclean,  vile,  savage,'  with  va- 
riations such  as,  *  traitor,  madman,  contemptible,  arrogant} 
etc.  I  am  thus  characterized  by  men  who  do  not  know 
me,  before  people  who  hear  my  name  for  the  first  time. 
The  desire  of  every  good  man  not  to  be  despised,  the  as- 
piration of  a  patriot  to  preserve  the  esteem  of  his  fellow 
citizens,  have  induced  me  to  publish  this  little  book,  which 
I  abandon  to  its  fate.  It  is  difficult  to  speak  of  one's  self, 
one's  own  good  qualities,  without  exciting  contempt  and 
attracting  criticism,  sometimes  with  good  reason ;  but  it  is 
more  difficult  to  consent  to  dishonor,  and  to  let  even  one's 
own  modesty  conspire  to  one's  injury,  and  I  have  not  hesi- 
tated a  moment  which  to  choose  between  these  opposite 
extremes." 

THE  HISTORY  OF  MY  MOTHER. 

"  I  feel  an  oppression  of  the  heart  when  I  approach  the 
facts  I  am  now  to  record.  The  mother  is  to  the  man  the 
personification  of  Providence  ;  is  the  living  earth  to  which 
the  heart  clings  as  roots  to  the  soil.  All  who  have  written 


"MY  MOTHER."  281 

of  their  family,  have  spoken  with  tenderness  of  their 
mother.  St.  Augustine  lauded  his  so  highly,  that  the 
Church  placed  her  at  his  side  upon  the  altars.  Lamartine 
has  said  so  much  of  his  mother  in  his  '  Confidences,'  that 
human  nature  has  been  enriched  with  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  types  of  the  mother  known  to  history ;  a  mother 
adorable  in  the  beauty  of  her  countenance,  and  endowed 
with  a  heart  which  seems  to  be  an  unfathomable  abyss  of 
goodness,  love,  and  enthusiasm,  to  say  nothing  of  gifts  of 
supreme  intelligence  which  created  the  soul  of  Lamartine, 
that  last  offshoot  of  the  old  aristocratic  society  which  was 
transfigured  under  the  maternal  wing  into  the  angel  of 
peace,  destined  to  announce  to  unquiet  Europe  the  advent 
of  the  Republic. 

"  To  the  affections  of  the  heart,  there  is  no  mother  equal 
to  the  one  who  has  presided  over  our  own  fate,  but  when 
pages  like  Lamartine's  have  been  read,  all  mothers  do  not 
leave  such  an  image  sculptured  upon  the  mind ;  mine 
however,  God  knows,  is  worthy  the  honors  of  apotheosis, 
and  I  should  not  have  written  these  pages  if  the  vigor  of 
her  mind  had  riot  inspired  me  to  vindicate  myself  against 
the  injustice  of  fate  in  these  last  years  of  her  laborious  life. 

"My  poor  mother!  On  the  night  when  I  descended 
from  Vesuvius,  the  fever  of  the  emotions  I  had  felt  during 
the  day  gave  me  a  horrible  nightmare  instead  of  the  sleep 
which  my  agitated  limbs  needed.  The  flames  of  the  vol- 
cano, and  the  darkness  of  the  abyss,  mingled  I  know  not 
what  of  absurd  in  the  terrified  imagination,  and  on  waking 
from  those  distracting  dreams,  one  idea  alone  possessed 
me,  tenacious  and  persistent  as  a  real  fact :  my  mother 
was  dead  !  I  wrote  that  night  to  my  family  ;  a  fortnight 
after  I  bought  a  requiem  mass  in  Rome,  that  the  pensionists 
of  Santa  Rosa,  my  pupils,  might  sing  it  in  her  honor ;  and 
I  made  a  vow,  which  I  persevered  in  while  I  was  under  the 


282  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH- 

influence  of  those  sad  impressions,  to  present  myself  in  my 
country  at  some  future  day,  and  to  say  to  Rosas  and  Bena- 
vides,  and  all  my  enemies  (hangmen), 'You  have  had  a 
mother ;  I  come  to  honor  the  memory  of  mine ;  make  a 
pause  then  in  the  brutalities  of  your  policy ;  profane  not 
an  act  of  filial  piety.  Let  me  tell  all  men  who  this  poor 
mother  was  that  no  longer  exists ; '  —  and  as  God  lives,  I 
would  have  fulfilled  it  as  I  have  fulfilled  so  many  other 
good  vows,  and  as  I  will  fulfill  many  others  that  I  have  made. 
Happily,  I  have  her  here  at  my  side,  and  she  instructs 
me  in  the  events  of  other  times  unknown  to  me,  forgotten 
by  all.  At  seventy-six  years  of  age  my  mother  has  crossed 
the  Cordillera  of  the  Andes  to  bid  farewell  to  her  son  be- 
fore descending  to  the  tomb.  This  act  alone  may  give  an 
idea  of  the  moral  energy  of  her  character.  Each  family  is 
a  poem,  Lamartine  has  said,  and  mine  is  a  sad,  a  luminous, 
and  a  useful  one,  like  those  distant  paper  lanterns  of  the 
hamlets,  which  serve  to  point  the  way  to  those  who  go 
astray  in  the  fields. 

'*  My  mother  preserves  scarcely  any  traces  of  a  severe 
and  modest  beauty,  at  this  advanced  age.  Her  lofty  stat- 
ure, her  pronounced  and  bony  form,  her  prominent  cheek- 
bones, the  sign  of  decision  and  energy,  are  all  the  features 
of  her  exterior  that  deserve  notice,  unless  it  may  be  the 
prominent  inequalities  of  her  brow,  so  unusual  in  her  sex. 
She  knew  how  to  read  and  write  in  her  youth,  but  lost 
this  facility  from  disuse  in  her  old  age.  Her  intellect  has 
been  little  cultivated,  and  is  destitute  of  all  adornment,  but 
so  penetrating,  that  after  listening  to  a  class  in  grammar 
which  I  was  instructing,  while  combing  her  fleeces  of  wool 
in  the  evening,  she  resolved  all  the  difficulties  which  had 
puzzled  her  daughters,  giving  the  definitions  of  nouns  and 
verbs,  tenses,  and  other  accidents  of  speech,  with  rare  sa- 
gacity and  exactness.  Apart  from  this,  her  soul,  her  con- 


DON  JOSE  CASTUO.  283 

science  were  educated  to  a  degree  of  elevation  which  the 
loftiest  knowledge  could  not  attain  by  itself.  I  have  been 
able  to  study  this  rare  moral  beauty,  by  seeing  its  opera- 
tion in  circumstances  so  difficult,  so  diverse,  and  so  oft- 
repeated,  without  ever  belying  itself  or  losing  its  freshness 
and  purity,  or  temporizing  with  circumstances,  which  with 
others  would  have  sanctified  the  conceptions  made  so  often 
in  daily  life  ;  that  here  I  would  trace  the  genealogy  of  these 
moral  ideas  which  were  the  healthy  atmosphere  my  soul 
breathed  while  it  was  unfolding  its  powers  at  the  domestic 
hearth. 

"  I  firmly  believe  in  the  transmission  of  moral  aptitude 
through  the  organization.  I  believe  in  the  infusion  of  the 
spirit  of  one  man,  into  the  spirit  of  another,  by  means  of 
speech  and  example.  Those  perverse  mortals  who  rule 
nations,  infect  the  atmosphere  with  the  breath  of  their 
souls,  and  reproduce  their  own  vices  and  defects.  There 
are  nations  who  reveal  the  characters  of  those  who  rule 
over  them  in  all  their  acts;  and  the  moral  life  of  cultivated 
and  free  nations,  their  monuments  and  their  instruction, 
preserve  the  maxims  of  great  master-minds,  and  would 
not  have  arrived  at  their  actual  degree  of  perfection,  if  a 
particle  of  the  spirit  of  Christ,  for  example,  had  not  been 
introduced  by  teaching  and  preaching  into  each  one  of 
them,  improving  their  moral  natures.  I  wished  to  know 
then  who  had  educated  my  mother,  and  from  her  conver- 
sation, from  citations  of  the  sayings  of  others,  and  from  her 
general  reminiscences,  I  have  made  out  almost  the  whole 
history  of  a  man  of  God,  whose  memory  lives  in  San  Juan, 
and  whose  doctrine  is  perpetuated  more  or  less  pure  in 
the  hearts  of  our  mothers. 

"  I  am  suspicious  that  this  holy  man  knew  his-  eighteenth 

century,  its  Rosseau,  its  Feijoo,1  and  its  philosophers  as 

1  Feijoo,  whose  real  name  was  Benedict  Jerom,  was  a  Spanish  Benedic- 


284  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH. 

well  as  he  did  the  Holy  Scriptures.  Don  Jose  Castro  had 
scarcely  been  named  curate,  when  he  wielded  the  lash  of 
his  censure  and  prohibition  upon  all  the  brutal  practices 
of  the  Church,  such  as  flagellations  which  inflamed  the 
back  with  merciless  whips,  fanatics  harnesssed  with  bridles 
who  walked  on  four  feet,  even  penitent  arm  crossings  on 
Holy  Week,  and  processions  of  the  Saints,  and  mummeries 
which  made  their  grimaces  before  the  Holy  Sacrament.  He 
used  his  influence  also  to  put  to  flight  the  belief  in  fairies, 
ghosts,  jack-o'-lanterns,  and  various  creations  of  other 
religious  faiths  interpolated  into  our  own  in  all  Christian 
nations.  To  this  end  he  used  not  only  ridicule,  but  from 
the  cathedral  made  patient  and  scientific  explanations  of 
the  natural  phenomena  which  gave  rise  to  these  errors. 
His  criticisms  also  upon  the  affairs  of  life,  and  popular 
criticisms  made  without  that  grossness  of  censure  which  is 
common  in  ordinary  preachers,  worked  so  much  more 
salutary  effects  since  they  came  accompanied  by  ridicule  so 
full  of  wit  as  to  raise  a  general  laugh  in  the  church,  he 
himself  laughing  till  his  eyes  would  fill  with  tears,  adding 
new  sallies,  till  the  immense  concourse  of  people,  attracted 
by  the  delicious  mirth  of  this  comedy,  relieved  their  hearts 
of  every  trace  of  ill-humor,  and  till  the  priest,  having  tran- 
quilized  all  minds,  would  say,  wiping  his  face,  '  Come, 
children,  we  have  laughed  enough  ;  now  lend  me  your  at- 
tention. By  the  sign  of  the  holy  cross,'  etc.,  and  then  came 
the  text  of  the  lesson  of  the  day,  followed  by  a  stream  of 
serene  and  placid  light,  moral,  practical,  easily-understood 
commentaries,  applicable  to  all  the  exigencies  of  life.  .  .  . 
My  mother's  religion  is  the  most  genuine  version  of  the 

tine  monk,  who  attempted  by  his  writings  and  example  to  correct  and 
reform  the  vitiated  religion  and  superstitious  notions  of  his  countrymen. 
This  unusual  boldness  against  the  prejudices  of  the  times  proved  very  offen- 
sive to  the  Church,  and  the  author  was  with  difficulty  saved  from  the  horrors 
of  the  Inquisition. 


CHARACTERISTICS   OF    "  MY   MOTHER."  285 

religious  idea  of  Don  Jose  Castro,  and  I  will  appeal  to  the 
practice  of  her  whole  life  to  explain  that  religious  reform 
founded  in  an  obscure  province,  where  it  is  preserved  in 
many  privileged  souls. 

.  .  .  "  My  mother  has  few  seasons  of  devotion,  but 
those  she  has  reveal  the  affinities  of  her  mind  to  certain 
illusions,  if  I  may  so  express  myself ;  for  instance,  to  her 
relation  to  the  saints  in  heaven.  The  Virgin  de  Dolores  is 
her  mother  of  God.  St.  Joseph  the  carpenter,  is  her  Holy 
Patron  Saint,  and  St.  Domingo  and  St.  Vincent  Ferras, 
Dominican  friars,  bound  by  many  ties  to  the  affections  of 
the  family,  her  order  of  priesthood.  God  himself,  through 
all  the  vicissitudes  of  her  anxious  life,  has  been  the  true 
Holy  One  of  her  devotion  under  the  invocation  of  Provi- 
dence. In  this  character  God  entered  into  all  the  acts  of 
that  laborious  life,  and  was  present  every  day  seeing  her 
contests  with  indigence,  and  witnessing  her  accomplish- 
ment of  her  duties.  Providence  rescued  her  from  all  her 
troubles  by  visible  manifestations  authenticated  to  her. 
.  .  .  Sometimes  she  would  call  the  whole  family  to- 
gether, when  she  would  give  utterance  to  a  supplication 
full  of  unction  and  fervor,  a  true  prayer  to  God,  the  purest 
emanation  of  a  soul  which  overflowed  with  thanksgiving 
for  the  smallest  benefits  vouchsafed  to  her ;  for  it  must  be 
said,  the  Divine  beneficence  was  very  scantily  meted  out 
to  her.  I  have  never  seen  this  profound  faith  in  Provi- 
dence belie  itself  for  one  moment,  but  ever  ward  off 
despair,  moderate  anxiety,  and  give  to  suffering  and  misery 
the  august  character  of  a  holy  virtue,  practiced  with  the 
resignation  of  a  martyr,  who  does  not  protest,  who  does 
not  complain,  but  hopes  always,  feeling  himself  consciously 
sustained,  supported,  approved.  I  know  no  more  religions 
soul,  and  yet  I  have  seen  no  other  Christian  woman  more 
regardless  of  religious  ceremonies. 


286  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH. 

"  The  curate  Castro  counseled  the  mothers  not  to  com- 
promise the  decorum  of  their  social  position,  by  going  in 
shabby  guise  into  the  street  to  attend  mass,  it  being  proper 
for  a  family  to  present  itself  always  in  public  with  that 
apparel  and  decency  required  by  its  rank ;  and  this  pre- 
cept my  mother  followed  in  her  days  of  extreme  poverty, 
w^h  the  modesty  and  dignity  that  always  characterized  her 
actions.  These  lessons  of  profound  wisdom  were  a  small 
part  of  that  seed  sown  by  the  holy  man,  and  fructified  by 
the  common  sense  and  the  moral  sentiment  upon  which  it 
fell  in  the  heart  of  my  mother. 

"  When  a  woman  of  twenty-three  years  she  undertook  a 
work  not  so  much  beyond  her  strength  as  beyond  the  usual 
conceptions  of  an  unmarried  maiden.  The  year  before, 
there  had  been  a  great  dearth  of  anascotes,  (a  kind  of  wool- 
en stuff  that  resembles  serge,  much  used  for  the  garments 
of  the  religious  orders,)  and  from  the  proceeds  of  her 
weaving,  my  mother  had  amassed  a  small  sum  of  money. 
With  that,  and  two  peons  of  her  aunts,  the  Irrazavales,  she 
laid  the  foundations  of  the  house  she  was  to  occupy  on 
forming  a  new  family.  As  these  scanty  earnings  were 
hardly  sufficient  for  so  costly  a  work,  she  established  her 
loom  under  one  of  the  fig-trees  which  she  had  inherited  in 
her  portion  of  land,  and  from  there,  while  throwing  her 
shuttle,  she  assisted  the  workmen  and  their  peons  in  build- 
ing the  little  dwelling ;  sold  the  cloth  she  had  made  in  the 
week  on  Saturdays,  and  paid  the  workmen  with  the  fruit 
of  her  labor.  In  those  times  an  industrious  woman  —  and 
all  were  so,  even  those  born  and  reared  in  opulence  — 
could  depend  upon  herself  to  provide  for  her  necessities. 
Commerce  had  not  pushed  its  products  into  the  interior  of 
America,  nor  had  European  manufactures  cheapened  pro- 
ductions then  as  now.  A  yard  of  unbleached  linen  cloth 
was  then  worth  eight  reals  for  the  first  quality,  five  for  the 


"  MY   FATHER."  287 

ordinary  quality,  and  four  for  a  yard  of  anascote,  the  thread 
being  thrown  in.  My  mother  wove  twelve  yards  per  week, 
which  was  the  pattern  for  the  dress  of  a  friar,  and  received 
six  dollars  on  Saturday,  not  without  trespassing  upon  the 
night,  to  fill  the  quills  with  thread  for  the  work  of  the  fol- 
lowing day.  .  .  .  The  branches  of  industry  carried  on 
by  my  mother  are  so  numerous  and  so  various,  that  their 
enumeration  would  fatigue  the  memory  with  names  which 
now  signify  nothing.  .  . 

"My  family  has  preserved  the  reputation  of  industrial 
omniscience  until  my  day,  and  the  habit  of  laboring  with 
her  hands  is  an  integral  part  of  my  mother's  existence. 
We  heard  her  exclaim  at  Aconcagua,  in  1842,  '  This  is 
the  first  time  in  my  life  that  I  have  sat  down  with  folded 
hands  ! '  And  at  seventy-six  years  of  her  age,  it  has  been 
necessary,  in  order  to  prevent  her  falling  into  a  decline,  to 
invent  occupations  adapted  to  her  impaired  vision,  among 
which  are  delicate  handiwork  for  ornaments  of  ladies' 
dresses,  and  other  superfluities. 

"  When  her  home  was  finished,  she  married  Don  Jose 
Clemente  Sarmiento,  my  father,  a  genteel  young  man  of 
a  family  which  had  fallen  into  decay  like  her  own,  and 
brought  to  him  as  a  dowry,  the  chain  of  privations  and 
miseries  in  which  she  passed  long  years  of  her  life.  My 
father  was  a  man  endowed  with  a  thousand  good  qualities, 
which  balanced  others  that  without  being  evil,  looked  in 
another  direction.  Like  my  mother,  he  had  been  educated 
in  the  rude  labors  of  that  epoch,  a  workman  on  the  pater- 
nal farm  of  La  Bebida,  a  mule-driver  in  the  carrier-trains. 
He  was  beautiful  in  countenance,  and  with  an  irresistible 
passion  for  the  pleasures  of  youth,  deficient  in  that  me- 
chanical constancy  which  makes  fortunes.  Inspired  by  the 
new  ideas  which  had  come  in  with  the  Revolution,  he  had 
an  unconquerable  hatred  for  material  labor,  unintellectu- 


288  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH. 

ally  and  rudely  as  he  had  been  educated.  I  heard  him 
say  to  the  Presbyter  Torres,  speaking  of  me,  '  O,  no  !  my 
son  shall  never  take  a  spade  in  his  hand  ! '  And  the  edu- 
cation he  gave  me  showed  that  it  was  a  fixed  idea  that  had 
its  birth  in  his  profoundly  mistaken  views  of  life.  In  the 
bosom  of  poverty,  he  reared  me  an  hidalgo,  and  my  hands 
exercised  no  other  forces  than  those  required  by  my  plays 
and  pastimes.  My  father  had  one  hand  made  useless  by 
a  callus  he  had  acquired  in  labor. 

"  When  the  Revolution  of  Independence  came,  his  ex- 
citable imagination  made  him  waste,  in  services  lent  to 
his  country,  the  small  acquisitions  he  had  made.  After 
seeing  in  1812  the  miseries  of  Belgrano's  army,  -he  re- 
turned to  San  Juan,  and  undertook  to  make  a  collection 
for  the  Mother  Country,  as  he  was  accustomed  to  call  it, 
which  proved  quite  abundant,  and  by  the  suggestion  of 
jealous  enemies  was  denounced  to  the  Municipality  as  an 
act  of  spoliation.  When  the  authorities  inquired  into  the 
subject,  they  were  so  well  satisfied,  that  he  was  charged 
with  carrying  his  patriotic  offering  to  the  army  in  person, 
and  this  event  gave  him  ever  after  the  sobriquet  of 
*  Mother  Country,'  which,  in  his  old  age  in  Chili,  was  the 
origin  of  a  calumny  designed  to  injure  his  son. 

"In  1817,  he  accompanied  San  Martin  to  Chili  as  an 
officer  of  militia  in  the  mechanical  service  of  the  army, 
and  from  the  field  of  battle  of  Chacabuco,  he  was  dis- 
patched to  San  Juan  to  carry  the  plausible  news  *  of  the 
triumph  of  the  patriots.  San  Martin  remembered  him 
well  in  1847 ,2  and  was  much  pleased  to  learn  that  I  was 
his  son. 

"  With  these  antecedents,  my  father  passed  his  whole 
life  in  beginning  speculations  whose  products  were  scat- 

1  This  news,  true  at  the  moment  apparently,  proved  to  be  a  fallacy. 

2  In  1847  Colonel  Sanniento  sought  out  San  Martin  in  his  French  re- 
treat. 


THE  FIESTA  OF  ST.  PETER.  289 

tered  in  badly  counseled  moments.  He  worked  with  te- 
nacity, and  fell  into  discouragement ;  he  again  essayed  his 
forces  and  struggled  against  every  disadvantage,  dissipating 
his  energies  in  long  journeys  to  other  provinces,  till  after 
my  arrival  at  manhood ;  and  from  that  time  he  followed  the 
fate  of  his  son  into  camps,  into  banishment  and  emigration, 
watching  over  me  like  a  guardian  angel  to  avert  if  possible 
the  dangers  that  threatened  me. 

"  From  this  evil  destiny  of  my  father  and  the  want  of 
a  persistent  plan  of  action,  the  maintenance  of  the  family 
fell,  from  the  earliest  period  after  marriage,  upon  the 
shoulders  of  my  mother,  my  father  only  aiding  her  fruitful 
labors  by  occasional  cooperation ;  and  under  the  pressure 
of  the  want  in  which  we  were  nurtured,  I  ever  saw  the 
shining  light  of  that  equanimity  of  mind,  of  that  resigna- 
tion armed  with  all  the  industrial  means  which  she  pos- 
jsessed,  and  of  that  confidence  in  Providence  which  was 
the  best  resource  of  her  energetic  soul  against  discourage- 
ment and  despair.  Winters  came  which  the  previous  au- 
tumn had  presaged  would  be  scanty  in  the  provision  of  the 
roots  and  dried  fruits  which  were  to  meet  the  expenses, 
and  like  the  pilot  of  an  abandoned  ship  she  prepared  with 
solemn  tranquillity  to  meet  the  storm.  When  the  day  of 
destitution  came,  her  soul  had  braced  itself  to  resignation 
by  assiduous  labor  to  meet  the  trial.  She  had  wealthy  re- 
lations ;  the  parish  curates  were  her  brothers,  but  those 
brothers  were  ignorant  of  her  sufferings.  It  would  have 
derogated  from  the  sanctity  of  the  poverty  which  she 
combated  with  her  labor,  to  have  mitigated  it  by  foreign 
intervention ;  it  would  have  been  asking  quarter  in  those 
death-combats  with  her  evil  star. 

"  The  fiesta  of  St.  Peter  was  always  celebrated  by  a 
splendid  banquet  given  by  our  uncle  the  curate,  and  he 
knew  the  rights  and  the  desire  of  the  children  of  the 

19 


290  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

family  to  participate  in  the  festivities.  Many  times  the 
curate  asked,  '  Why  did  I  not  see  Domingo  ? '  And  to  this 
day  he  supposes  that  it  was  obedience  to  my  mother's  or- 
ders, instead  of  poverty,  which  prevented  our  attendance. 
"  I  must  mention  one  more  characteristic  anecdote  of  my 
mother.  She  had  a  friend  of  her  infancy  from  whom 
death  separated  her  at  the  age  of  sixty.  The  two  friends 
had  always  continued  to  visit  each  other,  consecrating  one 
whole  day  to  the  delight  of  fusing  their  families  into  one, 
and  the  same  friendship  has  united  the  daughters  of  both. 
Her  friend  enjoyed  the  bounties  of  wealth,  but  on  the  day 
that  my  mother  passed  with  her,  our  own  servant  went  into 
the  friend's  kitchen  to  prepare  all  the  food  which  we  were  to 
consume  during  the  day,  the  protest  of  twenty  years  against 
the  practice  having  never  in  the  least  changed  my  mother's 
firm  and  unalterable  resolution,  in  order  that  the  ineffable 
pleasure  of  seeing  her  friend  should  not  be  marred  by  the 
possible  suspicion  that  she  wished  even  for  a  day  to  lay 
aside  the  duty  of  sustaining  her  family,  or  to  turn  her  face 
away  from  the  inequalities  of  fortune.  Thus  was  practised 
at  the  humble  hearth  of  the  family  of  which  I  made  a  part, 
the  noble  virtue  of  poverty.  Happy  are  the  poor  who  have 
had  such  a  mother  !  " 

"  THE  PATERNAL  HEARTH." 

"My  mother's  house,  the  fruit  of  her  industry,  whose  sun- 
burnt bricks  and  mud-walls  might  be  computed  in  yards  of 
linen,  woven  by  her  own  hands  to  pay  for  its  construction, 
has  received  in  the  course  of  the  last  few  years  some  addi- 
tions which  confound  it  with  other  dwellings  of  a  certain 
moderate  rank.  Its  original  form,  however,  is  that  to 
which  the  poetry  of  the  heart  clings,  the  indelible  image 
which  presents  itself  pertinaciously  to  my  mind  when  I 
remember  infant  pleasures  and  pastimes,  the  hours  of 


THE  HOMESTEAD.  291 

recreation  after  returning  from  school,  the  various  places 
where  whole  hours  and  weeks  were  passed  in  ineffable 
beatitude,  making  mud  saints  to  be  worshipped  when  com- 
pleted ;  or  armies  of  soldiers  of  the  same  paste,  to  feed  my 
pride  by  the  exercise  of  so  much  power. 

"  Towards  the  southern  part  of  the  little  territory  of  thir- 
ty yards  by  forty,  was  the  habitation  of  the  family,  divided 
into  two  apartments,  one  serving  as  a  dormitory  for  our 
parents,  and  the  large  one  for  the  hall  of  reception,  with  its 
lofty  dais  and  cushions,  remnant  of  the  tradition  of  the 
Arab  divan,  preserved  by  the  Spanish  people.  Two  tables 
of  the  indestructible  carob-tree  (algarroba),  which  had 
passed  down  from  hand  to  hand  since  the  time  when  there 
was  no  other  wood  in  San  Juan  but  the  carob-trees  of  the 
fields,  and  a  few  chairs  of  various  structure,  flanked  the 
hall,  while  two  great  pictures  in  oil  of  San  Domingo  and 
San  Vicente  Ferrar,  adorned  the  otherwise  bare  walls ; 
pictures  shockingly  painted,  but  most  devoutly  kept  as 
heir-looms  on  account  of  their  Dominican  habit.  At  a 
short  distance  from  the  entrance  door,  the  patriarchal  fig- 
tree  raised  its  deep  green  canopy,  which  even  in  my  child- 
hood shaded  my  mother's  loom,  whose  strokes,  and  the 
noise  of  whose  wheels,  pedals,  and  shuttles,  always  waked 
us  before  sunrise,  announcing  that  a  new  day  had  begun, 
and  with  it  the  necessity  of  providing  for  its  wants  by 
labor.  Some  branches  of  the  fig-tree  rubbed  gently  against 
the  walls  of  the  house,  and  heated  by  the  reflection  of  the 
sun's  rays,  it  anticipated  the  usual  season,  offering  its  mel- 
low contribution  of  early  figs  to  augment  the  rejoicing  of 
the  family  on  the  23d  of  November,  my  father's  birthday. 
I  linger  with  pleasure  over  these  details,  for  saints  and 
fig-tree  were,  at  a  later  day,  personages  of  a  family  drama 
in  which  colonial  ideas  struggled  violently  with  more  mod- 
ern ones.  Other  industrial  resources  had  their  place  on 


292  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

the  narrow  territory  of  twenty  yards  not  occupied  by  the 
family  mansion.  Three  orange- trees  shed  their  fruit  in 
autumn,  their  shade  always.  Under  a  corpulent  peach- 
tree  was  a  little  pool  of  water  for  the  solace  of  three  or 
four  geese,  which  multiplying,  gave  their  contribution  to 
the  complicated  and  limited  system  of  revenue,  upon  which 
reposed  the  existence  of  the  family ;  and  as  all  these  means 
were  insufficient,  there  was  a  garden  of  esculents  of  the 
size  of  a  scapulary,  surrounded  by  a  paling,  to  shelter  it 
from  the  voracity  of  the  goslings,  and  which  produced  such 
vegetables  as  enter  into  South  American  cookery,  the  whole 
sparkling  and  illuminated  by  groups  of  common  flowers,  a 
mulberry-colored  rose-bush,  and  various  other  flowering 
shrubs.  This  was  a  sample  of  the  exquisite  economy  of 
land  in  a  Spanish  colonial  family,  and  also  of  the  inex- 
haustible productions  which  the  country  people  of  Europe 
know  how  to  extract  from  it.  The  manure  of  the  fowls  and 
the  horse  which  my  father  rode,  passed  daily  into  use,  to 
give  new  vigor  to  that  little  spot  of  land  which  never 
wearied  of  yielding  its  varied  and  luxuriant  growths,  and 
when  I  wished  to  suggest  to  my  mother  some  views  of 
rural  economy  culled  from  books,  I  was  deservedly  treated 
as  a  pedant  in  the  presence  of  that  science  of  culture, 
which  was  the  favorite  pleasure  and  occupation  of  her  long 
life.  Now,  at  seventy-six  years  of  age,  if  she  escapes  us 
from  within  our  dwelling,  she  is  sure  to  be  found  propping 
up  some  drooping  plants,  responding  to  our  objections 
with  the  violence  of  feeling  that  possesses  her  on  seeing 
them  so  maltreated. 

"  Yet  in  that  Noah's  ark  there  was  some  little  corner 
where  were  steeped  and  prepared  the  colors  with  which 
she  dyed  her  webs,  and  a  vat  of  bran,  from  whence  issued 
every  week  a  fair  proportion  of  exquisitely  white  starch. 
In  prosperous  times  was  added  to  these  the  manufacture  of 


HOME  INFLUENCES.  293 

candles  made  by  the  hand,  some  attempt  at  baking  bread, 
which  always  resulted  in  failure,  and  a  thousand  rural 
operations,  which  it  would  be  superfluous  to  enumerate. 
Such  varied  occupations  were  not  without  method,  begin- 
ning in  the  morning  with  feeding  the  goslings,  gathering  the 
vegetables  before  they  were  wilted  by  the  sun,  and  then 
establishing  herself  at  her  loom,  which  for  long  years  was 
her  chief  occupation.  I  have  in  my  possession  the  shuttle 
of  algarroba,  polished  and  blackened  by  years,  which  she 
had  inherited  from  her  mother,  who  received  it  from  her 
grandmother,  a  humble  relic  of  colonial  life,  embracing  a 
period  of  about  two  hundred  years,  during  which  noble 
hands  had  thrown  it  almost  unweariedly ;  and  although  one 
of  my  sisters  has  inherited  from  my  mother  the  habit  and 
the  necessity  of  weaving,  my  -covetousness  has  prevailed, 
and  I  am  still  the  depository  of  this  family  jewel.  It  is  a 
pity  that  I  can  never  be  rich  and  powerful  enough  to  im- 
itate that  Persian  king  who  continued  to  use  the  clay  pot- 
tery which  had  served  him  in  childhood,  in  order  that  he 
might  not  grow  proud  and  despise  poverty. 

"  Such  was  the  domestic  hearth  near  which  I  grew,  and  it 
is  impossible  that  there  should  not  be  left,  on  a  loyal  nature, 
indelible  impressions  of  morality,  of  industry,  and  of  vir- 
tue, received  in  that  sublime  school  in  which  the  most 
laborious  industry,  the  purest  morality,  dignity  maintained 
in  the  midst  of  poverty,  constancy,  and  resignation,  divided 
all  the  hours.  My  sisters  enjoyed  the  deserved  reputation 
of  being  the  most  diligent  and  efficient  girls  in  the  whole 
province,  and  whatever  feminine  occupation  required  con- 
summate skill,  was  always  commended  to  these  supreme 
artificers  who  could  do  everything  which  required  patience 
and  dexterity  and  very  little  money." 

To  complete   this   picture   the   author   brings   into 


294  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

view  two  accessory  personages,  "  La  Toribia,"  a  Zamba 
domestic,  "  the  key  of  the  house,  the  right  arm  of  her 
mistress,  the  bonne  who  brought  us  all  up,  the  cook, 
the  messenger,  the  huckstress,  the  washer  and  ironer, 
the  maid  of  all  work.  She  died  young,  nor  was  her 
place  ever  filled,  either  in  the  domestic  economy  or  in 
the  heart  of  my  mother,  for  they  were  two  friends, 
mistress  and  maid,  two  fellow-laborers  who  discussed 
together  the  means  of  maintaining  the  family,  wrangled, 
disputed,  dissented,  and  each  one  then  followed  her 
own  opinion,  both  leading  to  the  same  end."  The 
other  personage  was  "  Na  Cleme,  the  pauper  that 
hung  upon  the  family,  for  my  mother,  like  the  Rigo- 
leta  of  Sue,  who  never  hoarded  anything,  had  her 
poor  also,  whom  she  helped  to  live  by  her  scraps." 
But  the  family  servant  and  the  family  pauper,  sup- 
posed by  some  to  be  a  witch,  and  apparently  of  that 
opinion  herself,  must  be  banished  from  our  pages, 
although  the  beneficent  relations  of  the  mother  to  them 
add  another  trait  to  a  noble  portraiture. 

"  Our  habitation  remained  as  I  have  described  it,  until 
the  day  when  my  two  elder  sisters  arrived  at  the  marriage- 
able age,  when  an  interior  revolution  began  which  cost  two 
years  of  debate,  and  showers  of  tears  to  my  mother,  on 
finding  herself  conquered  by  a  new  world  of  ideas,  habits, 
and  tastes,  which  were  not  those  of  the  colonial  existence, 
of  which  she  was  the  last  and  most  finished  type.  The 
first  symptoms  of  those  social  revolutions  operated  by 
human  intelligence  in  the  great  foci  of  civilization  are  very 
common  and  pass  unperceived ;  they  extend  through  the 
common  people,  insinuate  themselves  into  ideas,  and  infil- 
trate into  the  customs.  The  eighteenth  century  had  glittered 


COLONIAL  LIFE.  295 

over  France,  and  undermined  the  ancient  traditions,  cooled 
off  faith,  and  excited  hatred  and  contempt  for  things 
hitherto  venerated.  Its  political  theories  had  overturned 
governments,  unbound  Spanish  America,  and  opened  its 
colonies  to  new  customs  and  new  habits  of  life.  The  time 
was  coming  when  the  industrious  life  of  American  women 
was  to  be  looked  upon  disdainfully,  and  with  an  evil  eye ; 
when  French  fashions  were  to  prevail,  and  an  anxiety  for 
display  in  the  multiplication  and  distribution  of  luxuries 
were  to  take  possession  of  the  domestic  circle,  when  the 
dining-hour  must  be  delayed  from  twelve  o'clock  to  two  or 
even  four  in  the  afternoon.  Who  does  not  know  some  of 
those  good  old  people  of  the  ancient  stamp,  who  live,  proud 
of  their  opulence,  in  an  unencumbered  apartment,  fur- 
nished with  four  dusty  leather  chairs,  the  floor  covered 
with  spent  cigars,  and  the  table  ornamented  solely  with  an 
enormous  inkstand,  whose  goose-quills,  or  perchance,  con- 
dor-quills, are  crystallized  with  dried  ink.  This  was  the 
general  aspect,  the  family  picture  of  colonial  life.  It  is 
described  in  the  novels  of  Scott  and  Dumas,  and  living 
proofs  of  it  are  still  seen  in  Spain  and  in  South  America, 
the  last  of  the  old  peoples  who  have  been  called  upon  to  re- 
juvenate themselves.  These  ideas  of  regeneration  and  per- 
sonal improvement,  this  impiety  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
entered,  who  would  believe  it,  into  the  heads  of  my  two 
elder  sisters.  Scarcely  arrived  at  the  age  when  woman 
feels  that  her  existence  is  bound  to  society,  which  is  the 
end  and  object  of  this  existence,  they  began  to  aspire  to 
new  ideas  of  beauty,  of  taste,  of  comfort,  which  the  at- 
mosphere diffused  by  the  revolution  had  wafted  to  them. 
The  walls  of  the  common  sitting-room  were  smoothed  and 
whitened  anew  ;  a  thing  to  which  no  reasonable  opposition 
could  be  offered,  but  the  mania  extended  to  the  destruction 
of  the  raised  dais  that  occupied  one  side  of  the  hall,  with 


296  .BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

its'  carpet  and  its  cushions,  a  divan  as  I  said  before,  which 
came  down  to  us  from  our  Arabic  ancestors,  a  privileged 
spot  on  which  women  alone  were  permitted  to  sit,  and  in 
whose  spacious  circumference,  reclining  upon  ottomans, 
the  visitors  and  hosts  carried  on  their  lively  chit-chat,  that 
indescribable  medley  of  womanly  talk. 

"  Why  has  the  poetical  dais  been  allowed  to  disappear 
from  our  houses,  so  convenient  for  sitting,  so  adequate 
for  feminine  repose,  to  substitute  in  its  place,  chairs,  in 
which  one  by  one  or  in  rows,  like  soldiers  in  platoons, 
the  eye  reviews  the  company  in  our  modern  saloons  ? 
But  that  dais  expressed  that  man  might  not  publicly 
approach  the  young  ladies,  talk  freely,  and  mix,  freely 
with  them,  as  our  modern  customs  permit,  and  it  was 
therefore  repudiated  by  themselves,  as  easily  as  it  had 
been  formerly  accepted  as  a  privilege.  The  dais  then 
yielded  its  place  in  the  house  to  the  more  modern  fashion 
of  chairs,  notwithstanding  the  feeble  resistance  of  my 
mother,  who  enjoyed  sitting  upon  one  extreme  of  it  in  the 
morning  to  take  her  cup  of  mate,  with  her  brazier  and 
boiler  of  water  on  the  lower  step  before  her,  or  to  reel  her 
cottons  or  to  fill  her  quills  over  night  for  the  web  of  the 
following  day.  Not  being  accustomed  to  work  upon  a 
high  seat,  she  was  obliged  to  adopt  the  use  of  a  carpet  to 
supply  the  loss  of  the  dais,  which  she  lamented  many  long 
years. 

"  My  sisters'  spirit  of  innovation  at  last  attacked  sacred 
objects.  I  protest  that  I  did  not  take  part  in  this  sacrilege 
which  the  poor  little  things  committed,  in  obedience  to  the 
spirit  of  the  time.  Those  two  saints,  so  grand,  so  ancient, 
Santo  Domingo  and  San  Vicente  Ferrar,  decidedly  marred 
the  walls.  If  my  mother  could  but  consent  that  they 
should  be  taken  down,  and  put  into  a  sleeping-room,  the 
little  house  would  take  a  new  aspect  of  modern  and  ele- 


WORKS   OF  ART.  297 

gant  refinement,  for  it  was  -under  the  seducing  form  of 
good  taste,  that  this  iconoclastic  impiety  of  the  eighteenth 
century  found  its  way  into  the  house.  Ah,  what  wounds 
that  error  dealt  upon  the  bosom  of  Spanish  America! 
The  South  American  Colonies  had  been  founded  at  an 
epoch  when  the  Spanish  fine  arts  showed  proudly  to 
Europe  the  pencils  of  Murillo,  Velasquez,  and  Sambrano, 
as  well  as  the  swords  of  the  Duke  of  Alva,  the  great 
captain,  and  of  Cortez.  The  possession  of  Flanders 
added  to  its  products  those  of  Flemish  engraving,  which, 
painted  in  rough  lineaments  and  crude  colors  the  religious 
scenes  which  were  the  foundation  of  the  national  poetry. 
Murillo,  in  his  early  years,  made  innumerable  virgins  and 
saints  for  South  America  ;  the  second-rate  painters  sent  it 
whole  lives  of  saints  for  the  convents,  the  passion  of  Jesus 
Christ  in  immense  galleries  of  pictures,  and  Flemish  en- 
graving, as  now  French  lithography,  put  within  reach  of 
moderate  fortunes  the  history  of  the  Prodigal  Son,  and 
virgins  and  saints  of  as  many  types  as  the  calendar  fur- 
nishes. The  walls  of  our  ancestors'  and  fathers'  apart- 
ments were  tapestried  with  these  images,  and  not  rarely 
the  practiced  eye  of  an  artist  could  discover  some  line  of 
a  master-hand  in  the  midst  of  all  this  rubbis^h.  But  the 
revolution  pointed  its  finger  against  the  religious  emblems. 
Ignorant  and  blind  in  its  antipathies,  it  averted  its  eyes 
from  painting  which  was  Spanish,  colonial,  ancient,  and 
irreconcilable  with  the  new  ideas.  Devout  families  hid 
their  pictures  of  the  saints,  not  to  show  the  bad  taste  of 
preserving  them  ;  and  in  San  Juan,  and  other  places,  there 
were  those  who  used  the  canvas  for  trowsers  for  their 
slaves.  What  treasures  of  art  must  have  been  lost  by 
these  stupid  profanations  in  which  all  South  America  was 
an  accomplice,  for  there  was  a  period  at  which  everywhere 
at  once  prevailed  the  fatal  demolition  of  that  luxuriant 


298  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

vegetation  of  the  past  artistic  glory  of  Spain  !  European 
travellers,  who  passed  through  South  America  twenty  years 
ago,  collected  at  very  low  prices  inestimable  works  of  the 
best  masters,  which  they  found  cast  aside  as  useless  lumber 
covered  with  dust  and  cobwebs ;  and  when  the  day  of  the 
resurrection  of  the  arts  came  to  South  America,  when  the 
bandage  fell  from  the  eyes  of  the  people,  the  churches, 
the  rising  museums,  and  the  amateurs  found  from  time  to 
time  some  picture  of  Murillo  to  expose  to  view,  asking 
pardon  for  the  injustice  of  which  it  had  been  the  victim, 
now  restored  to  public  consideration,  and  to  the  lofty 
position  which  corresponded  to  its  merits. 

"  The  strife  went  on,  therefore,  between  my  poor  mother, 
who  loved  her  two  Dominican  saints  as  members  of  her 
family,  and  my  young  sisters  who  sacrificed  the  laws  of 
the  house  to  good  appearances  and  the  prejudices  of  the 
times.  Every  day,  at  all  hours,  under  every  pretext,  the 
debate  was  renewed,  some  threatening  glance  was  cast  at 
the  saints,  as  if  to  say,  "you  must  leave  your  places 
vacant ; "  while  my  mother  contemplated  them  with  tender 
looks,  exclaiming,  "  Poor  saints  !  how  badly  they  treat  you 
when  you  harm  no  one  ! "  But  by  this  continuous  battery, 
the  ear  became  accustomed  to  the  reproach,  resistance  was 
weaker  every  day,  for  if  they  were  looked  upon  as  indis- 
pensable objects  of  religion,  it  was  not  necessary  that  they 
should  be  in  the  parlor ;  the  sleeping  apartment  was  a 
much  more  appropriate  place  of  worship,  where  their  bless- 
ing could  be  invoked  upon  the  very  bed.  As  a  family 
legacy,  they  were  subject  to  the  same  arguments,  while  as 
an  ornament  they  were  in  the  worst  taste  ;  and  from  one 
concession  to  another,  my  mother's  mind  relented  little  by 
little,  and  one  morning  when  her  resistance  would  go  no 
further  than  the  wringing  of  her  hands,  when  the  guardian 


THE  SENTENCE  OF  SAINTS  AND  FIG-TREE.        299 

of  that  fortress  returned  from  mass,  her  eyes  expanded  to 
see  the  bare  walls  where  the  great  black  patches  had  been 
before.  My  saints  were  then  removed  to  the  sleeping 
apartment,  and  to  judge  by  their  faces  the  change  made 
no  great  impression  upon  them.  My  mother  knelt  weep- 
ing before  them  to  ask  their  pardon  by  her  prayers, 
remained  out  of  humor  and  querulous  all  day,  sad  the 
following  day,  but  resigned  the  next,  till  at  last  time  and 
habit  brought  the  balm  which  makes  bearable  the  greatest 
misfortunes.  This  signal  victory  gave  new  animation  to 
the  spirit  of  reform,  and  after  the  divan  and  the  saints,  in 
an  evil  hour,  the  threatening  glance  fell  upon  the  fig-tree 
that  stood  in  the  middle  of  the  court-yard,  discolored  and 
knotty,  by  dint  of  dryness  and  old  age.  The  matter  being 
looked  upon  in  this  aspect,  the  fig-tree  was  condemned  in 
the  public  conception :  it  sinned  against  all  the  rules  of 
decorum  and  decency ;  but  with  my  mother  it  was  an  eco- 
nomical question  which  affected  her,  as  well  as  one  which 
deeply  affected  her  heart.  Ah !  would  that  the  maturity 
of  my  own  heart  could  have  been  anticipated  and  brought 
to  her  aid,  but  selfishness  made  me  indifferent  to  her  feel- 
ings, or  weakly  inclined  me  in  her  favor  for  the  sake  of 
the  early  figs  !  They  wished  to  separate  her  from  that 
beloved  companion  in  the  flower  of  its  life  and  strength. 
Ripe  age  wreathes  associations  around  everything  which 
surrounds  us ;  the  domestic  hearth  is  a  living  being ;  a 
tree  which  we  have  seen  planted,  grow,  and  arrive  at 
maturity,  is  a  person  endowed  with  life,  which  has  acquired 
rights  to  existence  that  it  reads  in  our  hearts,  and  can 
accuse  us  as  ingrates,  and  would  leave  remorse  in  the  con- 
science if  we  should  sacrifice  without  a  legitimate  reason. 
The  sentence  of  the  old  fig-tree  was  discussed  for  two 
years,  and  its  champion,  wearied  with  the  struggle,  aban- 
doned it  to  its  fate ;  but  on  making  the  preparations  for  its 


300  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH. 

execution,  the  sentiments  which  had  been  outraged  in  her 
heart,  glowed  with  new  force,  and  she  obstinately  refused 
to  permit  the  destruction  of  that  witness  and  companion  of 
her  labors.  One  day,  however,  when  the  revocation  of  the 
permission  had  lost  all  its  prestige,  the  blows  of  the  hatchet 
upon  the  venerable  trunk  of  the  tree,  and  the  rustling  of 
the  leaves  shaken  by  the  shock,  the  last  sighs  of  the  victim, 
were  heard  through  the  house.  It  was  a  sad,  sad  moment, 
a  scene  of  mourning  and  repentance.  The  blows  of  the 
fig-slaying  hatchet 1  also  shook  the  heart  of  my  mother ; 
the  tears  rushed  to  her  eyes,  as  the  sap  of  the  tree  to  the 
wound,  and  her  sobs  responded  to  the  trembling  of  the 
leaves.  Every  new  blow  brought  a  new  burst  of  grief,  and 
my  sister  and  I,  repenting  too  late  for  having  given  such 
acute  pain,  burst  into  weeping,  the  only  reparation  now 
possible.  The  suspension  of  the  work  of  destruction  was 
ordered,  as  the  family  prepared  to  rush  into  the  yard,  and 
put  a  stop  to  the  painful  re-percussions  of  the  hatchet  upon 
my  mother's  heart.  Two  hours  afterwards,  the  fig-tree  lay 
prostrate  upon  the  ground,  displaying  its  hoary  head  as 
the  fading  leaves  showed  the  knotty  frame-work  of  that 
structure,  which  for  so  many  years  had  lent  its  aid  to  the 
protection  and  sustenance  of  the  family. 

"  After  these  great  reforms,  the  humble  habitation  went 
on  slowly  and  painfully  enlarging  itself.  It  fell  to  me  to 
have  the  happiness  of  introducing  one  substantial  change. 
On  the  border  of  our  little  homestead  spot  was  a  piece  of 
ground  my  father  had  purchased  in  a  moment  of  compara- 
tive ease.  I  was  an  apprentice  in  a  small  commercial 
establishment  when  sixteen  years  old.  My  first  plans  and 
economies  had  for  their  object  the  fencing  in  of  this  lot  of 
territory,  that  it  might  be  made  productive  to  the  family, 
and  place  it  beyond  the  reach  of  indigence,  although  it 

1  The  Spanish  word  is  higuericida,  the  fig-i-cidal. 


EARLY  EDUCATION.  301 

could  not  make  it  pass  out  of  the  limits  of  poverty.  My 
mother  now  had  at  her  disposal  a  theatre  worthy  of  her 
agricultural  knowledge ;  to  the  decrepid  fig-tree  succeeded 
in  her  affections  a  hundred  young  trees,  whose  growth  her 
maternal  eye  fostered.  Hours  of  every  day  were  conse- 
crated to  this  plant  and  to  that  vine,  upon  which  the  family 
was  in  future  to  depend,  for  a  portion  of  its  sustenance. 

"  When  I  had  accomplished  this  work,  I  could  say  in  my 
joy  at  having  produced  such  a  result,  /  saw  that  it  was 
good,  and  I  was  happy." 

"MY  EDUCATION. 

"  In  a  school,  the  details  of  which  I  have  mentioned  else- 
where,1 and  where  I  entered  at  five  years  of  age,  I  remained 
nine  years  without  having  missed  a  single  day,  under  any 
pretext,  for  my  mother  was  there  to  see  that  I  should  fulfill 
my  duty  of  punctuality,  under  the  penalty  of  her  indescrib- 
able severity.  At  five  years  of  age,  I  read  fluently,  in  a 
loud  voice,  with  intonations  and  emphasis  that  only  a  com- 
plete comprehension  of  the  subject  could  give,  and  so  un- 
common was  this  early  skill  at  that  period,  that  I  was 
carried  from  house  to  house  to  display  my  reading,  reaping 
a  great  harvest  of  cakes,  embraces,  and  encomiums,  which 
filled  me  with  vanity." 

In  a  letter  to  his  uncle,2  the  illustrious  Bishop  of 
Cuyo,  written  after  seeing  Pompeii,  our  author  de- 
scribes himself  again  with  much  liveliness. 

"  I  want  your  highness  to  do  an  act  of  justice  in  San 
Juan,  seizing  by  the  ear  our  cousin  M.  It  was  your  illus- 
trious highness  who,  when  curate,  put  a  little  book  into  my 
hand,  remarking  to  some  one  at  the  same  time  —  I  have 

1  In  a  work  upon  Popular  Education. 

2  Taken  from  Travels  in  Europe,  Africa,  and  America,  in  1846-7. 


302  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH. 

not  forgotten  it,  because  I  have  not  forgotten  you  —  that 
at  the  age  of  four  years  I  had  the  reputation  of  being  the 
most  troublesome  and  vociferous  reader  you  had  ever  seen. 
The  crude  notions  which  I  acquired  by  my  habits  of  early 
reading,  wandered  a  long  time  in  my  mind,  like  the  clouds 
in  space  when  they  meet  with  no  point  of  support  to  form 
a  nucleus,  till  some  little  book  which  accident  placed  in 
my  hands  came  to  fill  a  vacuum,  or  some  other,  later,  to 
explain  a  passage  not  well  understood.  I  had  many  his- 
torical notions  at  that  age,  when  the  generality  of  children 
are  thinking  only  of  their  plays ;  and  now  that  I  have  vis- 
ited Rome  I  have  been  able  to  recognize  at  first  sight,  by 
the  image  engraven  in  my  memory  from  the  earliest  child- 
hood, in  which  I  passed  hours  poring  over  a  Roman 
Guide  Book,  and  which  was  the  first  book  I  owned,  the 
monuments  I  met  with.  I  do  not  know  how  nor  when  I 
read  an  account  of  the  ruins  of  Pompeii,  but  not  being 
able  to  keep  to  myself  the  novelty  and  wonder  it  excited, 
I  attacked  people  in  the  street  to  tell  them  the  portentous 
story.  I  told  it  thus  to  our  cousin  M.,  and  instead  of  stand- 
ing with  open  mouth  as  I  had  promised,  he  burst  into  a 
fit  of  laughter ;  and  whenever  he  saw  me  where  people 
were  assembled,  he  made  me  tell  the  story  of  Pompeii  for 
the  general  diversion.  I  have  now  seen  that  Pompeii  which 
so  preoccupied  my  childhood,  and  it  reminds  me  of  the 
incredulity  of  M." 

From  this  digression  we  return  to  his  little  book. 

"  Apart  from  a  natural  faculty  of  comprehending  what  I 
read,  I  had  a  secret  background  of  images  of  which  the 
public  was  ignorant.  My  poor  father,  ignorant  himself, 
but  solicitous  that  his  children  should  not  be  so,  sharpened 
at  home  this  rising  thirst  for  knowledge,  and  made  me 
read,  without  pity  for  my  tender  years,  the  '  Critical  His- 


BOYISH  TASTES.  303 

tory  of  Spain,'  in  four  volumes,  the  '  Desiderio  and  Electo,' 
and  other  abominable  books  which  I  never  turned  to  again, 
but  which  left  in  my  mind  confused  ideas  of  history,  alle- 
gories, fables,  countries,  and  proper  names.  I  owe  thus  to 
my  father  that  love  of  reading  which  has  been  the  constant 
occupation  of  my  life,  and  although  he  could  not  give  me 
an  education  because  of  his  poverty,  he  gave  me  by  his  pa- 
ternal solicitude  the  powerful  instrument  by  which  I  have 
supplied  the  want  through  my  own  efforts,  thus  fulfilling 
the  most  constant  and  earnest  of  his  wishes. 

"  I  never  knew  how  to  spin  a  top,  to  bat  a  ball,  to  fly  a 
kite,  or  had  any  inclination  for  such  boyish  sports.  At 
school  I  learned  how  to  copy  the  knaves  from  cards,  and 
afterwards  made  a  copy  of  San  Martin  on  horseback,  from 
the  paper  lantern  of  a  grocer,  and  from  acquisition  to  ac- 
quisition, I  succeeded,  after  ten  years  of  perseverance,  in 
divining  all  the  secrets  of  making  caricatures.  In  a  family 
visit  on  one  occasion,  at  the  house  of  Dona  Barbara  Icaste, 
I  occupied  the  day  in  copying  the  face  of  a  San  Jeronimo, 
and  that  type  once  acquired,  I  reproduced  it  distinctly  in 
the  faces  of  all  ages  and  sexes.  My  teacher,  weary  of 
correcting  me  in  this  pastime,  concluded  by  resigning  him- 
self to  it,  and  respecting  the  instinctive  mania.  When  I 
had  an  opportunity  to  be  instructed  in  drawing,  the  will 
to  perfect  myself  in  it  was  unfortunately  wanting.  But  later 
in  life  I  spread  through  my  province  a  taste  for  that  graphic 
art,  and  under  my  direction  or  inspiration  were  formed  half 
a  dozen  artists,  which  San  Juan  now  possesses.  But  that 
taste  was  converted  in  my  youth  into  one  for  sculpture, 
which  took  two  different  forms,  and  I  made  saints  and 
soldiers,  the  two  great  objects  of  my  childish  fancy. 

"  My  mother  raised  me  with  the  persuasion  that  I  should 
be  a  clergyman,  and  the  curate  of  San  Juan,  in  imitation 
of  my  uncle ;  and  my  father  had  visions  for  me  of  military 


304  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH. 

jackets,  gold  lace,  sabres,  and  other  accoutrements  to 
match.  Through  my  mother,  I  was  to  follow  colonial  vo- 
cations ;  through  my  father,  the  ideas  and  preoccupations  of 
that  revolutionary  epoch  were  infiltrated  into  me ;  and 
obeying  these  contradictory  impulses,  I  passed  my  leisure 
hours  in  beatific  contemplation  of  my  mud  saints,  duly 
painted,  leaving  them  in  turn  quiet  in  their  niches  to  give 
battle  in  front  of  the  house  between  two  armies  which  my 
neighbors  and  I  had  been  preparing  for  perhaps  a  month 
before  by  a  large  hoarding  of  wax  balls,  in  order  to  thin 
out  the  bedaubed  files  of  shapeless  puppet  soldiers. 

"  I  should  not  relate  these  trifles  if  they  had  not,  later  in 
life,  taken  colossal  forms  and  prefigured  one  of  those  re- 
membered events  which  even  at  this  day  make  me  palpi- 
tate with  glory  and  vanity.  ...  In  regard  to  my  sacer- 
dotal vocation,  I  assisted  when  a  boy  of  thirteen  at  a  pious 
chapel  in  the  house  of  the  humpbacked  Rodriguez,  capable 
of  holding  twenty  persons,  and  endowed  with  a  sacristy,  bel- 
fry, arid  other  requisites,  with  candlesticks,  thuribles,  and 
musical  bells  made  by  Don  Javier  Jofre's  negro,  Rufino, 
and  of  which  we  made  an  enormous  consumption  in  peal- 
ings  and  processions.  The  chapel  was  consecrated  to  our 
family  patron,  St.  Domingo,  —  I  administering  for  two 
years  the  august  dignity  of  Provincial  of  the  order  of 
Preachers,  by  acclamation  of  the  chapter,  and  to  the  great 
edification  of  the  devotees.  The  friars  of  the  convent  of 
St.  Domingo  came  to  hear  me  sing  the  mass  in  which  I 
parodied  my  uncle,  the  curate,  who  sang  very  well,  and  I, 
being  his  acolyte,  watched  all  the  mechanism  of  the  mass, 
not  forgetting  to  mark  the  page  in  the  missal  in  which 
were  the  gospel  and  epistle  of  the  day,  in  order  to  repro- 
duce them  in  perfection  in  my  private  mass. 

"  On  Sunday  afternoons,  the  Provincial  transformed  him- 
self into  the  general-in-chief  of  an  army  of  boys,  and  woe 


WAR  OF   1810.  305 

•to  those  who  dared  to  make  front  to  that  rain  of  stones 
which  issued  from  the  bosom  of  my  phalanx." 

I  omit  the  details  of  the  boyish  battle  our  auto- 
biographer  describes,  in  which  he  showed  the  determi- 
nation and  pluck  which  have  characterized  all  his 
maturer  acts.  I  omit  it  (his  later  ones  were  under- 
taken in  better  causes),  fearing  the  publication  of  it 
might  not  receive  his  sanction,  though  he  amused  him- 
self and  his  "  hundred  friends  "  with  the  relation  ;  all 
the  personages  engaged  in  it  being  probably  well 
known  to  them. 

"  This  ends  what  I  call  the  colonial  history  of  my  family. 
What  follows,  is  the  slow  and  painful  transition  from  one 
mode  of  life  to  another,  the  life  of  the  rising  Republic,  the 
struggle  of  parties,  civil  war,  proscription,  and  banishment. 
To  the  family  history  succeeds  as  atmosphere  and  theatre 
of  action,  the  history  of  my  native  country.  I  succeed  to 
my  progenitors,  and  I  believe  that  by  following  my  foot- 
steps as  those  of  another  in  that  path,  the  curioso  may  linger 
over  the  events  which  form  the  general  picture,  incidents 
of  the  country  known  to  all,  objects  of  general  interest,  by 
the  examination  of  which,  the  items  of  my  biography,  val- 
ueless for  themselves,  will  serve  as  a  thread  of  connection  ; 
for  in  my  life,  so  destitute  of  aid,  so  full  of  contrarieties, 
and  yet  so  persevering  in  its  aspiration  for  all  that  is  noble 
and  elevated,  may  be  seen  depicted  that  unhappy  South 
America,  agitating  itself  in  its  condition  of  nothingness, 
making  supreme  efforts  to  unfold  its  wings,  lacerating  itself 
at  every  attempt  against  the  iron  bars  of  the  prison  in 
which  it  is  chained. 

"  Strange  emotions  must  indeed  have  agitated  the  souls 
of  our  fathers  in  1810.  The  twilight  perspective  of  a  new 


306  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

epoch,  liberty,  independence  —  new  words  then  —  must 
have  made  their  fibres  tremble  deliciously,  powerfully  ex- 
cited their  imaginations,  and  sent  the  blood  rushing  wildly 
through  their  hearts.  That  year,  what  anxiety,  what  hap- 
piness, what  enthusiasm !  There  is  a  story  of  a  king,  who 
trembled  like  an  aspen  at  the  sight  of  a  naked  dagger,  the 
effect  of  his  mother's  emotions  when  she  carried  him  under 
her  bosom,  and  in  whose  arms  a  man  was  stabbed.  I  was 
born  in  1811,  the  ninth  month  after  the  25th  of  May,  and 
my  father  had  thrown  himself  into  the  revolution,  and  my 
mother  was  agitated  every  day  by  the  momentary  news  of 
the  progress  of  the  insurrection.  Before  I  could  speak 
plainly,  they  began  to  familiarize  my  eyes  and  my  tongue 
with  the  alphabet,  such  was  the  eagerness  with  which  the 
colonials  who  already  felt  themselves  to  be  citizens  fell  to 
educating  their  children,  as  may  be  seen  by  the  decrees  of 
the  gubernatorial  junta  and  the  other  governments  of  that 
epoch. 

"  Full  of  this  holy  spirit,  the  government  of  San  Juan, 
sent,  in  1816,  for  some  men  from  Buenos  Ay  res,  worthy 
by  their  education  and  moral  character  to  be  teachers  in 
Prussia,  and  on  the  opening  of  the  school  of  La  Patria,  I 
passed  immediately  into  the  troop  of  four  hundred  children 
of  all  ages  and  conditions,  who  were  eager  to  receive  the 
only  solid  instruction  which  has  been  given  amongst  us  in 
primary  schools.  The  memory  of  Don  Ignacio,  and  Don 
Jose  Jenaro  Rodriguez,  still  awaits  the  reparation  due  to 
their  immense,  their  holy  services;  and  I  must  not  die 
until  my  country  has  fulfilled  that  sacred  duty.  The  sen- 
timent of  equality  was  developed  in  our  hearts  by  the 
epithet  of  Senor,  which  we  were  obliged  to  give  each  other 
without  regard  to  condition  or  race  ;  and  by  the  morality 
of  manners,  stimulated  by  the  example  of  the  master ;  the 
oral  lessons,  and  the  punishments  which  were  only  severe 


DON  IGNACIO  RODRIGUEZ.  307 

and  humiliating  when  inflicted  for  crimes.  .  .  .  When 
a  pupil  of  the  reading  school,  an  elevated  seat  was  con- 
structed at  the  end  of  the  hall,  a  sort  of  throne  accessible 
by  steps,  and  I  was  placed  upon  it  with  the  name  of '  FIRST 
CITIZEN.'  Don  Ignacio  Rodriguez,  who  is  still  living,  can 
tell  if  the  seat  was  made  for  me.  A  youth  named  Domin- 
go Moron  succeeded  me  in  that  honorable  place,  and  it 
afterwards  fell  into  disuse.  This  circumstance  and  the 
consequent  publicity  acquired  from  that  time,  the  praises 
of  which  I  was  always  the  object  and  the  witness,  must 
have  contributed  to  give  to  my  manners  a  character  of 
fatuity  of  which  I  was  not  made  aware  until  much  later  in 
life.  From  a  child,  I  believed  in  my  talents,  as  a  rich 
man  does  in  his  money,  or  a  soldier  in  his  warlike  deeds. 
Every  one  said  so,  and  in  nine  years  of  school-life,  there 
were  not  a  dozen  out  of  two  thousand  children  who  were 
before  me  in  their  capacity  to  learn,  notwithstanding  that 
at  last  I  hated  the  school,  as  well  as  grammar,  algebra, 
and  arithmetic.  My  school  morality  also  must  have  be- 
come slack  by  this  eternal  school-life,  for  I  remember  that 
I  finally  fell  into  disfavor  with  the  master.  .  .  . 

"  It  is  a  deserved  tribute  to  my  mother  to  say  that  we 
were  brought  up  in  a  holy  horror  of  falsehood.  I  was 
always  distinguished  in  school  for  exemplary  veracity,  and 
the  masters  rewarded  it  by  proposing  me  as  a  model  to 
others,  praising  me,  and  quoting  me  with  encomiums,  so 
that  the  purpose  of  being  always  truthful  was  deepened 
more  and  more  in  me ;  a  purpose  which  has  formed  the 
foundation  of  my  character,  and  to  which  all  the  acts  of 
my  life  have  testified. 

"  My  school  apprenticeship  was  concluded  by  one  of  those 
acts  of  injustice  so  frequent,  from  which  I  have  guarded 
myself  carefully  whenever  I  have  been  in  similar  circum- 
stances. Don  Bernardino  Rivadavia  (then  President),  — 


308  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

that  unfortunate  educator  whose  well-chosen  plans  were 
trampled  under  foot  by  the  horses  of  Quiroga,  Lopez, 
Rosas,  and  all  the  chiefs  of  the  barbarous  reaction  move- 
ment, — summoned  from  each  province  six  youths  of  known 
talents  to  be  educated  by  the  nation,  in  order  that  when 
their  studies  were  concluded,  they  might  return  to  their 
respective  cities,  to  assume  scientific  professions  and  give 
lustre  to  their  country.  He  asked  that  they  should  be 
from  decent  but  poor  families,  and  Don  Ignacio  Rodriguez 
came  to  my  father  to  tell  him  that  my  name  headed  the 
list  of  chosen  children  whom  the  nation  was  about  to  take 
under  its  wing.  But  the  covetousness  of  the  rich  inter- 
fered :  lots  were  drawn ;  all  the  city  went  to  the  register- 
ing, and  a  list  of  candidates  was  made  out,  and  the  election 
was  made  by  ballot.  Fortune  was  not  the  patron  of  my 
family,  and  I  was  not  one  of  the  six  favored  ones.  What 
a  day  of  sadness  to  my  parents  was  that  on  which  the  fatal 
notice  came  to  them  !  My  mother  wept  in  silence !  My 
father  buried  his  face  in  his  hands. 

"  But  the  fate  that  had  been  unjust  to  me,  was  not  so  to 
the  province,  although  it  knew  not  how  to  take  advantage, 
in  later  days,  of  the  riches  that  were  in  preparation  for  it. 
The  lot  fell  to  Antonio  Aberastain,  as  poor  a  boy  as  my- 
self, endowed  with  remarkable  talents,  an  iron  application 
to  study,  and  a  moral  sentiment  which  has  made  him  a 
shining  example  to  this  day.  No  one  knows  better  than  I 
the  depths  of  his  character :  we  were  friends  from  infancy ; 
I,  his  protege"  in  the  adult  school,  when  in  1836,  we  both 
arrived  in  San  Juan,  he  from  Buenos  Ayres,  I  from  Chili ; 
he  began  to  lend  me  the  support  of  his  influence,  to  raise 
me  in  his  arms  every  time  the  malicious  envy  of  the  village 
overwhelmed  me  with  a  wave  of  disfavor  or  jealousy,  every 
time  that  the  leveller  vulgarity  persisted  in  reducing  me  to 
the  common  herd.  Supreme  Judge  of  Doctor  Alzadas, 


DON  ANTONIO  ABERASTAIN.  309 

he  was  always  there  defending  me  against  the  rich  young 
men  who  wished  to  throw  obstacles  in  my  path.  I  have 
owed  to  this  good  man,  even  the  marrow  of  my  bones. 
He  was  full  of  energy  without  the  appearance  of  it,  humble 
even  to  self-annihilation.  To  him,  and  to  another  man  in 
Chili,  I  owed  still  later  my  own  self-estimation,  by  the 
proofs  they  lavished  upon  me  of  theirs,  both  serving  and 
upholding  me  more  than  a  fortune  could  have  done.  The 
esteem  of  the  good  acts  as  galvanism.  A  glance  of  benev- 
olence from  them  can  say  to  Lazarus,  '  Arise  and  walk ! ' 
I  have  never  loved  any  one  as  I  loved  Aberastain ;  no 
man  has  left  deeper  traces  of  respect  and  admiration  upon 
my  heart. 

"  After  he  left  San  Juan,  the  Supreme  Tribunal  of  Jus- 
tice was  administered  by  men  without  professional  educa- 
tion, and  often  so  unfit,  poor  fellows,  that  they  would  have 
been  stupid  mule-drivers.  Ultimately  the  honorable  House 
of  Representatives  declared  that  even  in  default  of  San- 
juanino  advocates,  no  foreigner  could  be  a  judge,  that  is  to 
say,  no  individual  of  another  confederate  province,  and  this 
legislative  act  shows  the  perversion  of  mind  into  which 
these  people  have  fallen."  l 

On  the  occasion  of  laying  the  corner-stone  of  the 
"Sarmiento  School"  in  San  Juan,  in  1864,  —  a  splen- 
did edifice  built  within  the  walls  of  an  abandoned 
church,  partly  erected  many  years  before,  —  Colonel 
Sarmiento  thus  speaks  of  the  influence  of  school-days 
upon  his  life. 

1  In  his  biography  of  his  friend,  he  relates  that  such  was  the  common 
feeling  of  respect  for  Aberastain  among  his  fellow-pupils  in  childhood,  such 
his  almost  morbid  conscientiousness,  that  he  went  by  the  soubriquet  of 
"  God-the-Father."  We  can  hardly  appreciate  this  Spanish  custom  of 
nicknaming,  as  we  call  it.  In  those  communities,  half  the  people  are 
known  by  some  fancy  name  growing  out  of  personal  or  accidental  or  char- 
acteristic qualities. 


310  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

"  The  inspiration  to  consecrate  myself  to  the  education 
v  of  the  people,  came  to  me  here  in  my  youth.  My  labor  of 
thirty  years,  that  of  serving  the  countries  where  I  resided 
with  schools,  turns  now  to  its  point  of  departure,  to  the  very 
simple  idea  of  the  importance  of  primary  school  education 
over  all  other  education,  to  insure  the  happiness  of  nations. 
If  I  had  been  born  in  Buenos  Ayres,  or  Cordova,  or  in 
Santiago  de  Chili,  the  primary  education  of  this  part  of  the 
country  would  not  have  arrived  at  this  point  when  all  are 
striving  for  that  end.  I  should  have  been  preoccupied 
with  the  brilliant  university,  and  should  have  aspired  to 
its  honors.  But  I  was  born  and  educated  amidst  the  peo- 
ple of  a  province  where  there  was  no  other  education  than 
that  of  the  public  school,  and  the  '  Escuela  de  la  Patria ' 
was  one  of  the  first  order,  without  a  rival  in  any  private 
one,  conducted  by  a  man  so  respected  by  the  people  and 
the  government,  that  at  that  time  the  schoolmaster  was 
looked  upon  as  one  of  the  first  magistrates  of  the  province. 
Observe,  then,  by  what  singular  circumstances  the  school, 
as  an  institution,  was  destined  to  acquire  in  my  mind  that 
supreme  importance  which  I  have  never  ceased  to  give  it ; 
and  how,  at  the  close  of  my  travels,  I  found  in  the  United 
States  that  the  school  occupied  the  same  place  as  in  San 
Juan,  and  brought  forth  like  results.  The  truth  is,  that  the 
first  ideas  in  the  child's  mind  keep  the  same  relative  posi- 
tion always,  and  however  slightly  they  meet  with  confirma- 
tion, grow  and  develop,  and  determine  the  career  in  life. 
If  I  should  express  all  my  thoughts,  I  should  say  that  the 
School  of  La  Patria,  in  San  Juan,  associated  in  my  mind 
with  the  recollections  of  the  only  form  of  education  with 
which  I  was  acquainted,  went  forth  with  me  from  this  prov- 
ince, and  accompanied  me  in  all  my  wanderings.  In  Chili 
it  took  the  form  of  normal  schools  ;  in  Europe  I  connected 
it  with  the  study  of  legislation  ;  in  the  United  States  with 


SARMIENTO  SCHOOL  IN  SAN  JUAN.  311 

the  spectacle  of  its  wonderful  results,  of  its  temple  school- 
houses,  and  of  the  prominent  place  it  holds  among  the 
institutions  of  that  country.  In  Buenos  Ayres  I  repro- 
duced it  as  a  seed  sown  in  propitious  ground,  and  I  return 
to  do  the  same  to-day  in  San  Juan,  by  reestablishing  the 
School  of  La  Patria,  completed  as  an  educational  institu- 
tion, and  also  as  a  democratic  one,  and  I  bring  to  it  all  the 
acquisitions  made  in  my  long  and  various  travels.  No  lon- 
ger confined  to  three  halls  that  contained  in  all  but  three 
hundred  pupils,  we  have  here  an  edifice  that  will  ena- 
ble us  to  throw  off  the  swaddling-clothes  of  infancy.  To- 
day we  lay  the  stone  which  consecrates  to  education  these 
beginnings  of  an  unfinished  temple.  And  that  you  may 
see  how  advanced  ideas  have  grown,  I  will  repeat  to  you 
what  I  have  replied  to  those  who  have  wished  this  edifice 
kept  to  its  first  destination,  and  who  yet  abandoned  it  to 
sterility  and  destruction. 

"  At  the  corner  of  the  next  block,  thirty  steps  from  here, 
thirty  years  ago,  I  was  a  merchant's  clerk,  and  here  pur- 
sued my  solitary  studies.  Even  at  that  time,  I  saw  that  a 
spacious  school-house  might  be  erected  within  these  walls, 
and  with  your  assistance  I  now  realize  my  thought  after 
the  delay  of  so  many  years.1 

"  Observe  another  class  of  ideas  and  events  that  deserve 
to  be  recorded.  If  the  School  of  La  Patria  inspired  me 
with  this  high  estimation  of  primary  education  which  has 
distinguished  me  from  the  generality  of  the  men  of  my 
epoch,  in  my  country,  its  excellence  did  not  come  of  itself* 
nor  from  the  advanced  condition  of  the  provinces.  It  was 
due  to  a  respected  family  from  Buenos  Ayres  whose  head 

1  The  citizens  of  San  Juan,  of  all  classes,  contributed  to  the  erection  of 
the  Sarmiento  School,  some  by  the  produce  of  their  farms  and  other 
labors,  the  ladies  by  theatrical  exhibitions,  concerts,  fairs,  and  many 
liberal  men  by  their  money.  It  was  erected  within  the  ruins  of  an  aban- 
doned church. 


I 
312  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH. 

was  Don  Ignacio  Firmen  Rodriguez,  of  venerated  memory 
among  Sanjuaninos,  and  whose  image  is  to-day  recalled  to 
you  by  the  foundation  of  a  new  school,  the  continuation  of 
his  work.  I  was  asked  at  Buenos  Ayres  how  it  was  possi- 
ble that  in  the  year  1818,  so  near  our  middle  ages,  we  had 
schools  and  masters  so  advanced.  This  question  was  also 
put  to  me  during  my  travels  in  America  and  Europe,  after 
I  found  in  Chili  and  even  in  Buenos  Ayres  itself,  less 
advanced  public  schools  than  I  had  left  here  in  my  child- 
hood, schools  to  be  compared  only  with  those  of  Germany 
and  the  United  States. 

"  My  master  explained  it  to  me  in  the  last  years  of  his 
life,  feeling  unwilling  to  accept  all  the  eulogies  with  which 
my  gratitude  and  my  admiration  sought  to  make  his  merits 
known.  His  explanation  was  that  he  had  read  Scotch  trea- 
tises upon  instruction,  and  had  conformed  himself  to  their 
principles.  In  fact,  primary  education  in  Scotland  has 
been  far  superior  to  that  of  England,  and  this  was  proved 

from  early  times  by  its  institutions  and  science 

D.  Ignacio,  for  thus  he  was  always  called,  read,  wrote,  and 
ciphered  perfectly.  He  dictated  and  sent  to  the  press  in 
Buenos  Ayres,  a  grammar,  an  orthography,  and  a  treatise 
upon  arithmetic.  Later,  he  taught  algebra  and  some  geog- 
raphy. 

"  One  year  I  saw  a  book  upon  his  table,  which  showed 
that  he  did  not  yet  know  Latin,  and  proposed  to  learn  it. 

"  He  was  religious,  which  appeared  less  in  ceremonies 
than  in  precepts,  and  explanations  of  the  catechism,  and 
especially  in  the  frequent  inculcation  of  the  principles  of 
morality. 

"  His  special  quality  as  a  master  was  to.  inspire  re- 
spect, and  I  ought  to  say  that  all  education  is  vain  in  the 
presence  of  a  deficiency  of  this  quality  as  is  the  case  in  the 
generality  of  masters.  To-day,  for  instance,  there  is  not  a 


SCHOOL  OF  LA  PATRIA.  313 

single  master  in  San  Juan  who  possesses  this  primary 
qualification  of  his  profession. 

"  In  the  absence  of  D.  Ignacio,  his  influence,  his  shadow, 
I  may  say,  presided  "over  the  school.  A  dull  murmur  of 
conversation  might  be  heard ;  but  it  did  not  come  to  be 
noisy,  and  never  rose  to  a  shout ;  as  soon  as  he  was  seen 
to  pass  by  the  window,  that  suppressed  murmur  began  to 
subside  and  became  silence,  and  this  silence  was  never  dis- 
turbed by  any  one  in  his  presence ;  there  was  no  necessity 
of  calling  to  order,  to  which  our  masters  recur  in  vain.  I 
preserve  still  the  almost  religious  impression  of  this  respect 
which  he  inspired  in  us  all,  without  exception,  a  respect 
which  we  saw  at  home  was  mixed  with  love,  and  which 
accompanied  us  to  adult  years,  although  many  of  his 
pupils  have  occupied  stations  more  exalted  as  to  social 
position  than  his  own. 

"  The  sphere  of  his  instruction  Jwas  not  very  extensive, 
but  as  we  only  learn  by  having  our  intelligence  developed, 
his  mode  of  teaching  went  straight  to  the  object,  and  what- 
ever he  taught  we  learned  well,  because  he  cultivated  the 
thinking  powers  from  the  beginning.  In  San  Juan  there 
were  fine  readers  taught  by  a  new  and  easy  method,  long 
before  they  could  be  found  in  Chili,  and  the  Sanjuaninos 
of  those  times  were  better  spellers  than  there  are  to-day 
among  the  cultivated  youth  of  Buenos  Ay  res.1  At  first  he 
tried  the  system  of  emulation  ;  his  pupils  were  Cartha- 
genians  and  Romans  ;  but  later  he  modified  this  system  by 
giving  to  each  pupil  one  opponent  who  always  ended  by 
being  his  best  friend.  At  last  he  adopted  Lancaster's 
method.  But  the  system  which  he  used  to  perfection  was 
that  of  simultaneous  recitation. 

"  He   tried   every  system   of  punishments   during   the 

1  The  Spanish  language  has  been  very  much  adulterated  in  South 
America.  —  Ed. 


314  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

nine  years  that  I  was  his  pupil,  according  as  his  views 
improved,  but  he  never  deprived  himself  of  the  resource 
of  corporal  chastisement,  in  cases  where  he  deemed  it 
necessary. 

"  A  thousand  qualities  distinguished  this  man  from  the 
generality  of  teachers,  and  established  his  superiority. 
Most  of  his  teaching  was  oral,  especially  in  grammar  and 
arithmetic,  and  was  reasoned  out  and  duly  exemplified. 

"  D.  Ignacio  has  gone  to  his  grave,  but  his  spirit  is  en- 
shrined in  the  hearts  of  a  people  who  preserve  the  tra- 
ditions of  popular  education.  His  pupils  have  diffused  it, 
and  San  Juan  and  Buenos  Ayres,  by  their  improvements  in 
education,  testify  to  the  service  of  the  Rodriguez  family  of 
blessed  memory. 

"  I  have  digressed  into  these  details,  although  by  so  doing 
I  have  detained  you  too  long,  in  order  to  rouse  you  to  a 
great  and  noble  effort.  San  Juan  was  the  first  Argentine 
province,  as  I  have  shown  you,  which  after  the  revolution 
of  independence  elevated  primary  education  to  the  highest 
grade  of  perfection  possible  at  that  epoch.  From  San 
Juan  went  forth  the  impulse  which  in  these  later  days  has 
stimulated  two  republics.  San  Juan  owes  it  to  herself  to 
reestablish  the  fame  of  her  ancient  school,  and  permit  me 
to  say,  that  it  is  the  duty  of  my  country  and  my  compatri- 
ots to  aid  me  in  the  full  development  of  a  system  of  com- 
mon school  education  which  shall  put  the  seal  upon  the 
work  of  thirty  years  of  my  life." 

"  In  regard  to  my  education,"  he  continues,  "  it  may  be 
said  that  fate  intervened  to  dog  my  steps.  I  next  went  to 
the  seminary  of  Loreto  in  Cordova,  but  was  obliged  to, 
return  without  entering,  for  the  revolution  of  Carita  left  me 
without  a  Latin  teacher.  In  1825,  I  began  to  study 
mathematics  and  surveying  under  M.  Barreau,  engineer 
of  that  province.  Together  we  drew  up  the  plan  of  the 


EDUCATION.  315 

streets  of  Roji,  Desemparados,  and  Santa  Barbara,  and 
from  there  round  to  the  Pueblo  Rajo,  and  T  alone,  my 
teacher  having  abandoned  me,  that  of  the  Cathedral  Santa 
Lucia  and  Legua.  That  same  year  I  went  to  San  Luis  to 
continue  with  the  clergyman  Oro  the  education  which  the 
revolution  of  1824  had  interrupted.  A  year  later  I  was 
summoned  by  the  government  to  be  sent  to  the  College  of 
the  Moral  Sciences,  and  arrived  at  San  Juan,  after  having 
once  refused  to  go,  at  the  moment  when  the  lancers  of 
Facundo  Quiroga  appeared  from  the  dusty  wood,  fluttering 
their  sinister  banners  through  the  streets.  The  next  year 
I  entered  a  commercial  house  as  a  timid  apprentice,  —  I, 
who  had  been  educated  by  the  presbyter  Oro,  in  solitude 
which  so  develops  the  imagination,  dreaming  of  con- 
gresses, war,  glory,  liberty,  in  short,  of  the  Republic.  I 
was  sad  for  many  days,  and,  like  Franklin,  whom  his 
parents  destined  for  a  soap-boiler,  but  who  was  des- 
tined to  rob  the  heavens  of  their  lightnings,  and  tyrants  of 
their  sceptres,  I  '  took  an  aversion  to  the  road  that  leads  to 
fortune.'  In  my  musings,  in  hours  of  idleness,  I  returned 
to  the  fields  of  San  Luis,  where  I  wandered  through  the 
woods  with  my  Latin  grammar  in  my  hand  studying  mas- 
cula  sunt  maribus,  and  interrupting  the  repetition  by  throw- 
ing stones  at  the  birds.  I  missed  that  sonorous  voice 
which  had  for  two  whole  years  sounded  in  my  ears,  placid, 
friendly,  moving  my  heart-strings,  calling  out  my  senti- 
ments, elevating  my  mind.  The  reminiscences  of  that 
oral  shower  which  fell  every  day  upon  my  soul,  presented 
themselves  like  the  pictures  of  a  book  whose  significance 
we  comprehend  by  the  action  of  the  figures.  Peoples, 
history,  geography,  religion,  morals,  politics,  all  these  were 
annotated  as  in  an  index,  but  I  missed  the  book,  which 
gave  the  details,  and  I  was  alone  in  the  world  in  the  midst 
of  parcels  of  condiments  and  pieces  of  chintz,  which  I 


316  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH. 

was  to  measure  out  by  the  yard  to  those  who  came  to 
buy  them.  But  there  must  be  books,  I  said,  which  treat 
specially  of  all  things  and  teach  them  to  children,  and  if 
one  understands  what  he  reads,  he  can  learn  them  without 
the  assistance  of  a  master,  —  and  I  rushed  to  seek  those 
books,  and  in  that  remote  province,  in  that  hour  of  taking 
my  resolution,  I  found  what  I  sought,  such  as  I  had  con- 
ceived it,  prepared  by  exiled  patriots  who  wished  well  to 
America,  and  who  had  foreseen  from  London  this  necessity 
of  South  America  to  educate  itself,  and  responding  to  my 
importunities  had  sent  me  the  catechisms  of  Akermann 
which  Don  Tomas  Rojo  had  introduced  into  San  Juan. 
4 1  have  found  it,'  I  could  exclaim  like  Archimedes,  for  I 
had  foreseen,  sought  and  found  those  catechisms  which 
later  in  the  year  1829,  I  gave  to  Don  Saturnino  Laspiar 
for  the  education  of  his  children.1  There  was  ancient 
history,  and  that  Persia,  and  that  Egypt,  those  Pyramids, 
and  that  Nile,  of  which  the  clergyman  Oro  had  told  me. 
I  studied  the  history  of  Greece  by  heart,  and  then  that  of 
Rome,  feeling  myself  to  be  successively  Leonidas  and 
Brutus,  Aristides,  Camillus,  Harmodius,  and  Epaminon- 
das ;  and  this  while  I  was  selling  herbs  and  sugar,  and 
making  grimaces  to  those  who  came  to  draw  me  from  my 
newly-discovered  world  where  I  wished  to  live.  In  the 
mornings  after  sweeping  the  shop,  I  read,  and  as  a  certain 
Senora  passed  by  on  her  way  from  church,  and  her  eyes 
always  fell,  day  after  day,  month  after  month,  upon  that 
boy,  immovable,  insensible  to  every  disturbance,  his  eyes 
fixed  upon  a  book,  one  day,  shaking  her  head,  she  said 
to  her  family,  '  That  lad  cannot  be  good  —  if  those  books 
were  good  he  would  not  read  them  so  eagerly ! ' 

"  From  that  time  1  read  every  book  that  fell  into  my 

1  These  were  some  young  men  whom  the  youthful  Sarmiento  taught  to 
read,  though  much  older  than  himself,  and  the  sons  of  a  wealthy  man. 


READINGS.  317 

hands,  without  arrangement,  with  no  other  guide  than  the 
chance  which  brought  them  to  me,  or  the  knowledge  I  had 
acquired  of  their  existence  in  the  scanty  libraries  of  San 
Juan.  The  first  was  the  '  Life  of  Cicero '  by  Middleton, 
with  very  fine  plates,  and  in  that  book  I  lived  a  long  time 
with  the  Romans.  If  I  had  then  had  half  the  means  of 
doing  it,  I  should  have  studied  law  to  make  myself  an 
advocate  and  defend  causes  like  that  distinguished  orator 
who  was  the  object  of  my  passionate  love.  The  second 
was  the  '  Life  of  Franklin,'  and  no  book  has  ever  done  me 
more  good.  The  '  Life  of  Franklin '  was  to  me  what 
'  Plutarch's  Lives '  were  to  Rousseau,  Henry  IV.,  Madame 
Roland,  and  so  many  others.  I  felt  myself  to  be  Frank- 
lin, —  and  why  not  ?  I  was  very  poor  like  him,  I  studied 
like  him,  and  following  in  his  footsteps,  I  might  one  day 
come,  like  him,  to  be  a  doctor  ad  honor  em  !  and  to  make 
myself  a  place  in  letters  and  American  politics.  The 
'  Life  of  Franklin '  should  be  in  every  primary  school. 
His  example  is  so  inspiring,  the  career  he  ran  so  glorious, 
that  there  would  not  be  a  boy  at  all  well-inclined  who 
would  not  try  to  be  a  little  Franklin,  through  that  noble 
tendency  of  the  human  mind  to  imitate  models  of  perfec- 
tion that  commend  themselves  to  it.  Holy  aspirations  of 
the  young  soul  for  the  beautiful  and  the  perfect !  Where 
among  our  books  is  the  type,  the  practical  possible  model, 
which  shall  guide  them  ?  Our  preachers  propose  to  us  the 
saints  of  heaven,  that  we  may  imitate  their  ascetic  virtues 
and  scourgings,  but  however  well-intentioned  a  boy  may 
be,  he  soon  renounces  the  pretension  to  perform  miracles, 
for  the  simple  reason  that  those  who  counsel  him  to  try  it, 
do  not  perform  any  themselves." 

It  was  at  this  time  that  he  read  the  Bible  with  his 
uncle    the    presbyter    Albarracin,    Paley's   "  Natural 


318  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

Theology  and  Evidences  of  Christianity,"  "  The  True 
Idea  of  the  Holy  See,"  and  "  Feijoo  "  (a  Catholic 
writer  who  tried  to  reason  away  many  of  the  super- 
stitious observances  of  the  Church,  and  came  very 
near  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  Inquisition  for  so 
doing).  This  completed  that  eminently  religious  and 
raisonne*e  education  which  had  come  to  him  from  the 
cradle,  transmitted  from  his  mother  to  the  schoolmas- 
ter, from  his  mentor  Oro  to  the  Presbyter  Albarracin. 

PUBLIC  LIFE. 

"  At  sixteen  I  entered  prison,  and  came  out  of  it  with 
political  opinions  diametrically  opposed  to  those  of  Silvio 
Pellico,  to  whom  prisons  taught  the  moral  of  resignation 
and  self-annihilation.  From  the  time  '  My  Prisons '  fell 
into  my  hands,  I  was  inspired  with  a  horror  of  that  doc- 
trine of  moral  discouragement  which  it  went  forth  to 
preach  through  the  world,  and  which  was  so  acceptable  to 
kings,  who  felt  that  they  were  threatened  by  the  energy  of 
their  people.  How  would  the  human  race  have  advanced, 
if  in  order  to  comprehend  the  interests  of  their  country, 
men  needed  to  have  spiritual  exercises  in  the  dungeons 
of  Spielberg,  the  Bastille,  and  Santos  Lugares  ?  Woe  to 
the  world  if  the  Czar  of  Russia,  the  Emperor  of  Austria,  or 
the  tyrant  Rosas  could  teach  morality  to  mankind !  Silvio 
Pellico's  book  is  the  death  of  the  soul,  the  morality  of  dun- 
geons, the  slow  poison  of  degradation  of  mind.  He  and 
his  book  have  happily  passed  away,  and  the  world  has  gone 
on  in  spite  of  the  cripples,  paralytics,  and  valetudinarians 
whom  political  struggles  have  left. 

"I  was  a  shopkeeper  by  profession  in  1827,  and  I  do  not 
remember  whether  I  was  also  Cicero,  Franklin,  or  The- 
mistocles  (it  depends  upon  what  book  I  was  reading  at  the 


EARLY  PUBLIC  LIFE.  319 

time  of  the  catastrophe),  but  I  was  told  for  the  third  time 
to  close  my  shop  and  mount  guard  in  the  character  of  en- 
sign of  militia,  to  which  rank  I  had  of  late  been  promoted. 
I  was  very  much  opposed  to  that  guard,  and  over  my  own 
signature  I  complained  of  the  service,  and  used  the  expres- 
sion, *  with  which  we  are  oppressed.'  I  was  at  once  re- 
lieved of  the  guard,  and  summoned  into  the  presence  of 
the  colonel  of  the  army  of  Chili,  Don  Manuel  Quiroga, 
then  Governor  of  San  Juan,  who  at  the  moment  was  taking 
his  ease,  seated  in  the  court-yard  of  the  Government  House. 
This  circumstance  and  my  extreme  youth  (sixteen),  natu- 
rally authorized  the  Governor,  on  speaking  to  me,  to  keep 
his  seat,  and  keep  on  his  hat.  But  it  was  the  first  time  I 
had  presented  myself  before  one  in  authority.  I  was  young, 
ignorant  of  life,  haughty  by  education,  and  perhaps  by  my 
daily  contact  with  Caesar,  Cicero,  and  other  favorite  person- 
ages, and  as  the  Governor  did  not  answer  my  respectful 
salute,  before  answering  his  question,  *  Is  this  your  signa- 
ture, sir  ? '  I  hurriedly  lifted  my  hat,  intentionally  put  it 
on  again,  and  answered  resolutely, '  Yes,  sir.' 

"  The  dumb  scene  that  followed  would  have  perplexed 
the  spectator,  doubting  which  was  the  chief  and  which  the 
subaltern,  who  were  defying  each  other  by  their  glances, 
the  eyes  of  each  wide  open  and  fixed  upon  each  other ;  the 
Governor  endeavoring  to  make  me  cast  down  mine  by  the 
flashes  of  anger  that  gleamed  from  his  own,  and  I  with 
mine  fixed  unwinking,  to  make  him  understand  that  his 
rage  was  aimed  at  a  soul  fortified  against  all  intimidation. 
I  conquered,  and  in  a  transport  of  anger,  he  called  an  aide- 
de-camp  and  sent  me  to  prison. 

"  Friends  flew  to  see  me,  among  them  Laspuir,  now  min- 
ister, who  was  very  fond  of  me  ;  he  advised  me  to  do  what 
he  had  always  done,  yield  before  difficulties.  My  father 
came  soon,  and  after  I  had  told  him  the  story,  he  said, 


320  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH. 

*  You  have  done  a  foolish  thing,  but  it  is  done  ;  now  bear 
the  consequences  with  courage.'  The  affair  was  followed 
up.  I  was  asked  if  I  had  heard  the  government  complained 
of.  I  answered,  '  Yes,  by  many.'  When  asked  for  names, 
I  said,  '  Those  who  had  spoken  in  my  presence  had  not 
authorized  me  to  communicate  their  opinions  to  the  au- 
thorities.' They  insisted ;  I  persisted ;  they  threatened 
me ;  I  held  my  tongue  ;  they  abandoned  the  cause,  and  I 
was  set  at  liberty. 

"  I  was  initiated  thus  by  the  authorities  themselves  into 
the  party  questions  of  the  city ;  into  questions  which  divided 
the  Republic,  and  it  was  not  in  Rome  or  in  Greece  that  I 
was  to  seek  for  liberty  and  country,  but  there,  in  San  Juan, 
in  the  horizon  where  the  events  opened  that  were  prepar- 
ing in  the  last  days  of  Rivadavia's  presidency.  .  .  . 

"  At  the  fiesta  of  Pueblo  Viejo,  I  fired  a  sky-rocket  at 
the  hoofs  of  a  group  of  horses,  and  Colonel  Quiroga,  then 
ex-governor,  came  out  from  among  the  horsemen  to  mal- 
treat me,  attributing  to  malice  prepense  what  was  only  a 
piece  of  folly.  We  had  a  wordy  dispute,  he  on  horseback, 
I  on  foot.  He  had  a  train  of  fifty  horsemen,  and  I  fixed 
my  eyes  upon  him  and  his  spirited  horse  to  avoid  being 
trampled  upon,  when  I  felt  something  touch  me  behind  in 
a  disagreeable  and  significant  manner.  I  put  my  hand  be- 
hind me,  and  touched  —  the  barrel  of  a  pistol,  which  was 
left  in  my  hand.  I  was  also  at  that  instant  the  Lead  of  a 
phalanx,  which  had  gathered  in  my  defense.  The  Federal 
party,  headed  by  Quiroga  Carril,  was  on  the  point  of  a 
hand-to-hand  encounter  with  the  Unitario  party,  whom  I 
served  unconsciously  at  that  moment.  The  ex-governor 
rode  off,  confounded  by  the  mocking  laughter  he  heard, 
and  perhaps  astonished  at  being  a  second  time  worsted  in 
the  presence  of  a  boy  who  did  not  arrogantly  give  him 
provocation,  nor  timidly  yield  when  once  embarked  in  a 


HEROIC  ENTHUSIASM.  321 

bad  undertaking.  The  next  day  I  was  a  Unitario ;  a  month 
later  I  knew  the  party  questions  in  their  very  essence,  knew 
their  personages  and  their  views,  for  from  that  moment  I 
entered  upon  the  voluminous  study  of  opposing  principles. 
"  When  the  war  broke  out,  I  gave  into  the  hands  of  my 
aunt,  Dona  Angela,  the  shop  I  had  in  charge,  enlisted  with 
the  troops  which  had  risen  in  insurrection  against  Facundo 
Quiroga  in  the  Quijadas,  made  the  campaign  of  Jachel, 
found  myself  in  the  encounter  at  Tafin,  escaped  being 
taken  prisoner  with  the  carts  and  horses  which  I  had  pre- 
viously taken  in  the  Posito,  under  the  order  of  Don  Javier 
Angulo,  fled  with  my  father  to  Mendoza,  where  the  very 
troops  which  had  conquered  us  in  San  Juan  had  risen 
against  the  Aldaos,  and  shortly  after  was  nominated  adju- 
tant." 

He  was  subsequently  an  approved  instructor  of  re- 
cruits, then  second  director  of  the  Military  Academy, 
to  which  office  he  was  assigned  for  his  knowledge  of 
cavalry  maneuvers  and  tactics,  due  to  his  peculiar  hab- 
its of  study.  The  campaign  of  Mendoza,  which  ended 
in  the  horrible  tragedy  of  Pilar,  brought  on  by  the  bad 
faith  of  Aldao,  was  to  him  the  poetry,  the  idealization, 
the  realization  of  his  readings.  He  was  only  eighteen, 
a  beardless  youth,  unknown  to  the  world,  but  he  lived 
in  an  ecstasy  of  enthusiasm,  ready  at  any  moment  to 
be  a  hero,  to  sacrifice  himself,  or  to  die,  in  order  to 
obtain  the  smallest  result  in  the  cause  for  which  he 
fought,  —  which  was  liberty  to  all  as  well  as  to  himself. 
He  describes  himself  as  fighting  with  "  demoniac  " 
zeal,  the  first  in  pursuit  of  guerillas,  regardless  of 
danger ;  indeed,  so  beside  himself,  that  at  last  his 

superior  officer  took  away  his  rifle,  as  one  takes  a  noisy 
21 


322  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

trumpet  from  children,  till  they  learn  to  do  what  they 
are  bid. 

These  combats  were  in  the  streets  of  the  city,  and 
the  conquerors  in  one  were  now  prisoners  in  another. 
His  father  followed  him  everywhere  like  a  tutelar 
angel,  but  was  often  unable  to  restrain  his  fanaticism. 
Indeed,  on  one  occasion,  when  the  noble  Leprida  most 
affectionately  and  earnestly,  but  in  vain,  endeavored  to 
withdraw  him  from  the  combat,  —  the  illustrious  Lep- 
rida, President  of  that  Congress  of  Tucuman,  which 
declared  the  independence  of  Spanish  rule,  and  before 
whom  the  most  eminent  men  of  the  Republic  bowed 
their  heads,  as  before  one  of  the  fathers  of  their  coun- 
try, and  who  perished  in  that  terrible  massacre, —  he  also 
obliged  his  father  to  flee  without  him,  who  lingering 
too  long  on  the  road,  almost  beside  himself  with  anxiety 
and  shame  for  having  preserved  his  own  life  by  flight, 
was  at  last  taken  prisoner  and  carried  to  San  Juan, 
where  he  escaped  being  shot  only  by  a  ransom  of  two 
thousand  dollars.  The  young  Sarmiento  escaped  many 
perils  at  that  time  —  that  of  being  shot  by  the  order  of 
his  own  government,  from  which  he  was  saved  by 
a  noble  foe,  who  carried  him  and  other  enthusiastic 
youths  who  were  brought  prisoners  to  him,  to  the  shel- 
ter of  his  own  roof,  where  he  protected  them  at  the 
risk  of  his  own  life ;  the  peril  of  being  shot  in  the 
barracks  by  three  assassins  instigated  by  Aldao,  be- 
side that  of  innumerable  skirmishes  and  engagements. 
He  says  human  nature  never  showed  itself  more  un- 
worthy to  him  than  in  that  treacherous  attack  of  the 
drunken  friar,  Aldao,  upon  a  group  of  sixty  officers, 
who  had  assembled  after  a  truce  had  been  agreed  upon. 


THE  MASTERY  OF   LANGUAGES.  323 

It  was  at  that  time  that  two  hundred  persons  fell  vic- 
tims to  the  atrocities  of  Aldao,  among  whom  were 
twenty  of  Sarmiento's  own  friends.  But  such  is  the 
elasticity  of  youth,  that  while  a  prisoner  in  his  own 
house  in  Mendoza,  to  escape  Aldao,  an  opportunity 
offering  to  study  French  with  a  soldier  of  Napoleon, 
who  did  not  know  Spanish  nor  the  grammar  of  his  own 
language,  in  six  weeks  from  the  beginning  he  had  made 
such  progress  as  to  have  translated  twelve  volumes. 

He  kept  his  books  upon  the  dining-table  (it  was  the 
sight  of  a  French  library  in  the  place  that  had  awak- 
ened his  zeal),  removed  them  at  meal  times,  extin- 
guished his  candle  at  two  in  the  morning,  or  when  the 
reading  absorbed  him  entirely,  passed  two  or  three 
days  in  succession,  seated,  with  his  dictionary  by  his 
side.  Fourteen  years  afterward,  on  visiting  France, 
he  learned  to  pronounce  the  language. 

It  was  after  these  events  that  with  his  family  and 
those  of  the  most  prominent  citizens  of  San  Juan,  he 
emigrated  to  Chili,  to  escape  the  fearful  tyranny  de- 
scribed in  the  work  now  published.  At  first  he  kept 
school  in  Los  Andes,  then  was  a  shopkeeper  in  Pocuro, 
with  a  small  capital  provided  by  his  family,  afterwards 
a  commercial  clerk  in  Valparaiso,  then  majordomo  of 
mines  in  Copiapo.  While  in  Valparaiso,  earning  an 
ounce  a  month,  he  paid  half  of  it  to  Rickard,  the  Eng- 
lish professor,  and  two  reals  a  week  to  the  watchman 
of  the  ward,  to  wake  him  at  two  in  the  morning  for  his 
English  studies.  Saturday  nights  he  passed  without 
sleep,  to  eke  out  the  leisure  of  Sunday.  After  he  had 
taken  lessons  six  weeks,  Rickard  told  him  that  he  only 
wanted  the  pronunciation,  which  he  did  not  acquire, 
however,  till  very  lately. 


324  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

While  majordomo  of  the  Copiapo  mines,  he  translated 
a  volume  a  day  of  the  sixty  volumes  of  Sir  Walter  Scott's 
works,  beside  some  other  books.  His  reading  in  Val- 
paraiso was  very  extensive,  and  these  readings,  enriched 
by  several  languages,  spread  out  before  him  all  the 
great  discussions  of  philosophical,  political,  moral,  and 
religious  ideas,  and  to  use  his  own  expression,  "  opened 
the  pores  of  his  intelligence  to  imbibe  them."  When 
the  labor  of  the  mining  day  was  over,  he  met,  in  a 
certain  kitchen  where  they  partook  of  refreshment, 
other  Argentine  majordomos,  foremen,  and  laborers, 
exiles  like  himself,  to  discuss  politics,  and  in  the  even- 
ings assembled  at  the  house  of  another,  the  only  one 
who  had  a  family  establishment  there,  thus  keeping  up 
their  habits  of  civilized  life.  At  these  reunions,  in  his 
miner's  dress,  —  which  consisted  of  doublet  and  hose, 
striped  drawers,  a  red  cap,  and  a  broad  sash,  from 
which  depended  a  purse  capable  of  holding  twenty-five 
pounds  of  sugar,  but  in  which  he  always  kept  several 
bundles  of  tobacco,  a  dress  he  had  assumed  partly  from 
fancy  and  partly  from  economy,  —  he  was  always  the 
oracle  to  which  all  appealed  for  points  of  history,  geog- 
raphy, or  other  book  learning.  Anecdotes  are  told  of 
the  astonishment  of  strangers  at  the  little  learned  miner, 
who  was  supposed  to  be  only  a  peon  who  had  strayed 
into  the  company.  Once,  for  want  of  the  book,  he 
recited  a  whole  pamphlet  he  had  written  upon  a  plan 
for  planting  a  colony  on  the  Colorado  River,  and  made 
converts  too  —  for  he  was  from  his  youth  always  elo- 
quent upon  the  point  of  cultivating  the  soil.  In  the 
proper  place  we  shall  speak  of  his  success  in  later  life 
in  showing  to  his  countrymen  the  advantages  of  agri- 


A  COMMUNITY   OF  STUDENTS.  325 

culture  over  cattle-growing.  While  at  Copiapo  it  was 
his  habit  to  entertain  the  miners  by  drawings  of  birds 
and  animals,  and  he  taught  French  to  others,  for  those 
who  knew  less  than  himself  were  always  objects  of  in- 
terest to  him. 

In  1836,  he  returned  to  San  Juan,  ill  with  a  cerebral 
attack,  destitute  of  resources,  scarcely  known  to  any 
one,  for  few  old  friends  had  yet  returned  from  exile. 
A  complicated  operation  in  arithmetic,  which  the  in- 
competent government  needed,  brought  him  again  into 
notice,  and  after  suffering  many  privations,  he  gradu- 
ally took  his  place  again  with  Cortinez,  Aberastain, 
Quiroga  Rosas,  and  Rodriguez,  men  of  mark  and  edu- 
cation, worthy  to  figure  in  any  part  of  South  America. 
Together  they  founded  a  college  for  young  ladies,  in  aid 
of  which  project  he  had  written  a  forcible  appeal  for 
the  education  of  women,  and  of  which  he  was  made 
director  — and  another  for  men,  which  was  not  allowed 
to  succeed.  The  college  for  ladies  lasted  but  two  years, 
but  left  its  mark  upon  the  society  of  San  Juan.  A 
dramatic  society  and  many  public  amusements  that 
tended  to  cultivate  and  improve  manners,  were  among 
the  improvements  made  by  these  young  men,  stimu- 
lated by  the  undying  zeal  and  executive  ability  of  Sar- 
miento.  Here,  in  the  library  of  Quiroga  Rosas,  he 
found  Villemain,  and  Schlegel ;  in  literature,  Jouffroi, 
Lermennier,  Guizot,  Cousin ;  in  philosophy,  Tocque- 
ville,  and  Pedro  Leroux  ;  the  "  Encyclopedic  Review," 
as  synthesis  of  all  opinions,  Charles  Didier,  and  a  hun- 
dred other  authors,  whom '  he  devoured  with  avidity. 
For  two  years  these  books  furnished  material  for  im- 
passioned discussions  between  the  friends,  and  in  this 


326  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

school  of  philosophy,  as  he  considered  it,  they  talked 
over  the  new  doctrines,  attacked,  defended,  resisted, 
and  were  at  last  more  or  less  conquered  by  them. 
Here  his  own  mind,  hitherto  but  a  reflecting  mirror  of 
the  ideas  of  others,  began  to  move  and  march  on.  He 
now  began  to  think  clearly  for  himself  on  all  subjects. 

"  The  European  mind,"  as  he  expresses  it,  "  began  to 
transfuse  itself  into  the  American  mind,  and  I  began  to 
apply  to  the  different  circumstances  of  the  two  theatres  of 
action  the  results  at  which  I  arrived. 

"It  was  in  1837  that  I  learned  Italian,  in  company  with 
young  Rawson,1  whose  talents  had  then  begun  to  show  them- 
selves strikingly.  Several  years  afterward,  when  editing 
the  *  Mercurio '  in  Santiago  de  Chili,  I  familiarized  myself 
with  Portuguese,  which  is  very  easy.  In  Paris,  still  later, 
I  shut  myself  up  fifteen  days  with  a  German  grammar  and 
dictionary,  and  translated  six  pages  to  the  satisfaction  of 
an  intelligent  man  who  gave  me  lessons,  that  supreme 
effort  leaving  me  an  incomplete  scholar,  although  I  thought 
I  had  caught  the  structure  of  that  rebellious  idiom. 

"  I  taught  French  to  many  persons  for  the  sake  of  spread- 
ing good  reading  among  them ;  and  to  sundry  of  my  friends 
I  taught  it  without  giving  them  lessons.  To  put  them  in 
the  path  which  I  had  trodden,  I  said,  '  You  must  not  fail 
to  study  —  I  am  coming.'  And  when  I  saw  their  self-love 
fairly  piqued,  I  gave  them  a  few  lessons  upon  the  way  to 
study  for  themselves. 

"  In  all  these  efforts  I  always  had  in  full  activity  the 
organ  of  instruction,  and  which  was  more  cultivated  in  me 
than  any  other ;  educated  by  the  living  speech  of  the 
presbyter  Oro,  and  the  curate  Albarracin,  and  always 
seeking  the  society  of  well-informed  men,  then  and  after- 

i  Late  Secretary  of  State  in  the  Republic. 


"LA  ZONDA."  327 

wards  my  friends.  Aberastain,  Penero,  Lopez,  Alberdi, 
Gutierrez,  Oro,  Tejedor,  Fragueiro,  Montt,  and  many  oth- 
ers, contributed,  without  knowing  it,  to  develop  my  mind, 
transmitting  their  ideas  to  me,  and  giving  me  an  opportu- 
nity to  unfold  my  own  as  the  complement  to  theirs. 

"  How  are  ideas  formed  ?  I  believe  that  in  the  mind  of 
one  who  studies,  it  happens  as  in  those  inundations  of  riv- 
ers where  the  waters  deposit  little  by  little  the  particular 
solids  washed  down  by  them,  and  with  which  they  fertilize 
the  adjacent  territory." 

With  the  aid  of  the  old  friends  whom  he  found  in 
San  Juan,  he  founded  at  this  time  a  periodical  called 
"  La  Zonda,"  which  criticized  village  manners,,  pro- 
moted the  'spirit  of  enthusiasm,  and  would  have  been 
of  incalculable  benefit,  if  the  government,  which  the 
periodical  did  not  attack,  had  not  felt  a  horrible  appre- 
hension of  the  light  it  was  sending  abroad. 

"  Out  of  this  came  my  second  imprisonment,"  he  says, 
"  for  refusing  to  pay  twenty-six  dollars,  of  which  in  viola- 
tion of  the  laws  and  decrees  in  force,  the  government  pro- 
posed to  rob  me.  Don  Antonio  Benavides  (Governor), 
and  Don  Antonio  Maradona  (Minister),  jointly  and  in 
solidum  owe  me  twenty-six  dollars  every  day  that  impends, 
and  they  shall  pay  me,  as  God  lives,  one  or  the  other  of 
them,  sooner  or  later,  the  latter  rather  than  the  former, 
because  a  minister  is  put  in  his  place  to  give  counsel  to 
the  governor,  who  does  not  know  so  well  the  laws  of  his 
country,  too  self-willed  to  be  restrained  by  laws,  those  frail 
barriers  to  his  caprice,  but  which  are  insuperable  through 
the  respect  their  direct  agents  deserve  among  cultivated 
men.  The  governor  of  San  Juan,  wishing  to  free  the  prov- 
ince from  the  serious  evils  which  might  be  brought  upon 
it  by  the  publication  of  a  periodical  which  was  edited  by 


328  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH. 

four  men  of  letters  competent  to  the  task  —  that  is,  not 
wishing  any  one  to  examine  his  acts  or  enlighten  public 
opinion,  sent  me  word  that  the  second  number  of  'La 
Zonda '  was  worth  twelve  dollars.  I  ordered  the  printer 
to  draw  so  many  dollars,  and  '  La  Zonda '  died  of  that 
suffocation." 

One  day  he  received  a  summons  to  appear  before 
the  governor,  who  asked  him  if  he  had  obeyed  the 
order  to  pay  twenty-six  dollars  for  the  last  number  of 
"  La  Zonda."  He  replied  that  it  was  an  illegal  de- 
mand, and  that  he  had  had  no  official  notice  to  pay  it, 
for  the  messenger  by  whom  it  was  sent,  the  printer, 
was  not  a  legal  messenger,  and  the  law  provided  that 
no  money  should  be  required  of  writers,  the  publishers 
having  the  benefit  of  sales,  in  order  to  encourage  pub- 
lications. Finding  him  resolute  in  his  refusal,  Bena- 
vides  threw  him  into  prison.  His  friends  visited  him 
and  advised  him  to  yield  the  point,  in  order  to  save  the 
college  of  which  he  was  director.  The  aide-de-camp 
came  to  receive  the  money,  and  received  a  warrant 
against  a  merchant,  accompanied  by  his  own  signature, 
by  which  Sarmiento  was  to  recover  in  due  time,  in 
view  of  the  law  which  was  violated  to  his  injury,  the 
sum  of  which  'he  was  despoiled,  with  damages.  Thus 
ended  this  affair,  but  he  says,  — 

"  My  situation  in  San  Juan  became  more  and  more 
thorny  every  day,  as  the  political  horizon  became  more  and 
more  charged  with  threatening  clouds.  Without  any  plan 
of  life,  without  influence,  repelling  the  idea  of  conspiracy, 
in  coffee-houses,  and  assemblies,  as  well  as  in  the  presence 
of  Benavides,  I  spoke  my  convictions  with  all  the  sincerity 
of  my  nature,  and  the  suspicions  of  the  government  closed 


INTERVIEW  WITH  BENAVIDES.  329 

around  me  on  every  side  like  a  cloud  of  flies  buzzing  in 
my  ears. 

"In  1839  an  incident  complicated  the  situation.  The 
friar  Aldao  was  defeated,  and  his  instantaneous  arrival  in 
San  Juan  was  announced.  The  few  men  who  opposed  the 
government  feared  for  their  lives.  Dr.  Aberastain  was  the 
only  one  who  would  not  flee.  I  prevailed  upon  him  to  go, 
—  I  begged  him  to  go,  and  he  yielded  to  my  request.  I 
was  the  only  one  who  knew  Aldao  well.  I  alone  had  been 
in  Mendoza  the  spectator  of  atrocities  of  which  two 
hundred  unhappy  persons,  twenty  of  whom  were  my 
friends  and  companions,  had  been  the  victims.  When  they 
spoke  to  me  of  preparing  for  the  intended  flight,  I  gave 
reasons  of  convenience  and  duty  which  obliged  me  to 
remain  in  San  Juan,  to  which  they  could  but  give  assent. 
Aldao  did  not  come,  but  the  fears  of  the  government  and 
the  rage  of  the  new  and  hitherto  unknown  men  into 
whose  hands  it  had  put  arms,  were  concentrated  upon 
me. 

"  At  that  time  I  made  a  supreme  effort.  I  saw  Mara- 
dona  the  ex-minister,  the  representatives  of  Sala,  and  as 
many  men  as  could  influence  the  mind  of  Benavides,  in 
order  that  they  might  restrain  him,  if  possible,  from  the 
abyss  into  which  I  saw  him  rushing  —  despotism,  chieftain- 
ship, the  overthrow  of  all  the  foundations  on  which  society 
reposes.  The  growing  tyrant  sent  for  me. 

*" '  I  know  that  you  are  conspiring,  Don  Domingo.' 
"  '  It  is  false,  sir  ;  I  do  not  conspire.' 
"  '  You  are  influencing  the  Representatives.' 
"  « Ah  !  that  is  another  thing ;  your  Excellency  sees  that 
there  is  no  conspiracy.     I  have  my  right  to  apply  to  the 
magistrates  and  the  representatives  of  the  people,  to  prevent 
the  calamities  which  your  Excellency  is  preparing  for  the 
country.    Your  Excellency  is  alone,  isolated,  obstinate  in 


330  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH. 

carrying  out  your  plan,  and  I  am  interested,  that  those  who 
can  and  ought  to  do  it,  should  restrain  you  in  time.' 

"  '  Don  Domingo,  you  will  force  me  to  take  measures.' 

"  '  And  what  matters  it  ? ' 

"  *  Severe  ones.' 

11 '  And  what  matters  it  ? ' 

"  *  You  do  not  understand  what  I  mean/ 

"  ( Yes,  I  understand  —  to  shoot  me,  and  what  matters 
it?' 

"  Benavides  looked  at  me  as  if  fascinated ;  and  I  protest 
that  he  could  not  see  on  my  countenance  any  sign  of 
boasting.  I  was  inspired  at  that  moment  by  the  spirit  of 
God.  I  was  the  representative  of  the  rights  of  all,  which 
were  about  to  be  trampled  on.  I  saw  in  the  countenance 
of  Benavides  symptoms  of  appreciation,  of  compassion, 
of  respect,  and  I  wished  to  respond  to  this  movement  of 
his  soul. 

" '  Sir,'  I  said,  '  do  not  defile  yourself  with  crime. 
When  you  can  tolerate  me  no  longer,  banish  me  to  Chili ; 
in  the  mean  time,  remember  that  I  must  labor  to  restrain 
you,  if  possible,  from  the  precipice  over  which  ambition 
and  unbridled  passion  are  hurrying  you,'  and  then  I  took 
my  leave. 

"  Some  days  afterwards  I  was  again  summoned  to  the 
Governor's  house. 

" '  I  have  been  convinced  that  you  have  received  letters 
from  Salta  and  the  encampment  of  Brinuela.' 

"  '  Yes,  sir  ;  and  I  was  preparing  to  bring  them  to  you/ 

"  '  I  knew  the  papers  had  arrived,  but  I  was  ignorant,' 
he  added  angrily,  'that  you  wished  to  show  them  to 
me.' 

"'I  had  not  made  a  fair  copy  of  the  representation  I 
had  made,  with  which  to  accompany  them.  Your  Excel- 
lency has  both  now.' 


REASONING  WITH  AN  IGNORANT  TYRANT.         331 

"  *  These  proclamations  are  printed  here.' 

"  '  You  are  mistaken,  sir,  they  were  printed  in  Salta.' 

"  '  There !  do  not  deceive  me.' 

"  * 1  never  deceive,  sir.  I  repeat  that  they  were  printed 
in  Salta.  The  press  of  San  Juan  has  not  this  small  capital ; 
this  other  type,  that ' 

"  Benavides  insisted,  sent  for  Galaburri  the  printer,  and 
was  convinced  of  his  error. 

"  '  Give  me  this  paper.' 

"  '  I  will  read  it  to  you,  sir  ;  it  is  in  manuscript.' 

"  <  Read  it,  then.' 

"  I  was  silent. 

" « Eead  it.' 

"  '  Will  your  Excellency  send  away  the  Chief  of  Police, 
in  whom  I  do  not  wish  to  place  confidence.' 

"  And  when  he  had  gone  out,  while  Benavides  threw 
glances  upon  me  that  threatened  death,  as  if  I  ought  to 
pay  for  his  bad  education,  which  made  him  a  third  party,  I 
read  my  factum  in  a  clear  expressive  voice,  pausing  upon 
each  conception  that  I  wished  to  make  salient,  giving  force 
to  those  ideas  which  I  wished  to  make  penetrate  my  audi- 
tor. When  I  had  finished  reading,  which  had  put  me  into 
a  state  of  exaltation,  I  raised  my  eyes,  and  read  in  the 
countenance  of  the  chief —  indifference  !  Not  one  single 
idea  had  penetrated  his  soul,  nor  had  a  suspicion  arisen  in 
it.  His  will  and  his  ambition  were  a  cuirass  which  de- 
fended his  heart  and  his  intellect. 

"  Benavides  is  a  cold  man ;  and  to  this  San  Juan  owes  hav- 
ing been  less  abused  than  the  other  provinces.  He  has  an 
excellent  heart,  and  is  tolerant ;  envy  has  little  part  in  his 
mind  ;  he  is  patient  and  tenacious.  Afterwards  I  reflected 
that  reason  is  impotent  in  a  certain  state  of  culture ;  its 
edges  are  blunted  and  slip  over  those  smooth  and  hardened 
surfaces.  Like  the  generality  of  men  in  our  countries,  he 


332  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

has  no  clear  consciousness  of  law  or  of  justice.  I  have 
heard  him  say,  candidly,  that  the  province  would  never  do 
well  till  it  had  no  lawyers,  that  his  comrade  Ibarra  lived 
tranquilly,  and  governed  well,  because  he  alone,  in  two 
cases  out  of  three,  decided  all  causes.  Rosas  has  his  best 
support  in  Benavides  ;  it  is  the  force  of  inertia  in  exercise, 
calling  everything  to  be  quiet  and  dead,  without  violence 
and  without  parade.  The  province  of  San  Juan  is,  with 
the  exception  of  La  Rioja,  San  Luis,  and  some  other  cities, 
one  that  has  fallen  lowest,  because  Benavides  has  im- 
pressed upon  it  his  materialism,  his  inertia,  his  abandon- 
ment of  all  that  constitutes  public  life,  which  is  just  what 
despotism  requires.  The  people  eat,  they  sleep,  they  talk, 
they  laugh  if  they  can,  —  and  keep  quiet,  that  in  twenty 
years  hence,  their  sons  may  walk  on  four  feet. 

"  Benavides  had  no  minister  then ;  all  the  Federals 
avoided  him,  and  he  alone,  with  the  aid  of  his  troops,  car- 
ried on  his  insane  designs.  Thus  men  in  power, take  the 
name  of  the  people  to  call  themselves  governments,  after 
they  have  degraded  and  abused  them  !  He  had  made  one 
Espinosa,  a  drunken  Tucuman,  though  a  valiant  fellow,  chief 
of  his  forces ;  and  one  Herrera,  a  Chilian  bandit,  taken  out 
of  prison,  and  a  comic  actor  whom  I  had  hissed  in  the 
theatre,  were  called  into  the  service,  the  latter  as  captain  ; 
the  Indian  Saavedra,  an  assassin  and  highwayman,  was 
another.  Juan  Fernandez,  a  young  man  of  good  family  who 
had  voluntarily  descended  into  the  rabble  where  he  passed 
his  time  in  intoxication  and  gambling,  the  most  despicable 
and  despised  creature  then  in  San  Juan,  was  his  aide-de- 
camp. An  Italian  impostor,  corrupt,  clownish,  and  igno- 
rant, was  made  mayor.  Under  the  orders  of  these  chiefs, 
the  scoriae  of  society,  many  obscure  young  men  of  good 
intentions,  but  ignorant  and  from  the  lowest  orders  of  soci- 
ety, had  been  called  into  the  service.  Some  of  them, 


ARRESTED  BY  BENAVIDES.  333 

even  from  that  bad  school,  turned  out  good  members 
of  society,  however.  Finally,  I  was  summoned  a  fourth 
time  to  the  government  house.  This  time  I  was  prepared. 
I  knew  that  a  terrible  blow  was  to  be  inflicted,  and  that  I 
was  the  appointed  victim.  It  was  Sunday,  and  I  had  taken 
leave  of  some  friends  at  home  half  in  jest  and  half  in 
earnest,  and  written  down  that  my  life  was  in  danger.  I 
obeyed  the  summons,  however,  taking  with  me  a  servant 
who  could  give  information  of  my  imprisonment  should 
that  event  occur.  I  met  on  the  way  one  of  my  friends, 
and  resisted  his  prayers  and  supplications  that  I  would  not 
present  myself. 

"  «  They  are  going  to  arrest  you ;  everything  is  prepared.' 

" '  Let  me  alone ;  Benavides  has  sent  for  me  by  an 
aide-de-camp,  and  I  should  be  ashamed  not  to  answer  the 
call/ 

"  They  arrested  me !  And  at  oration,  when  the  guard 
presented  itself  that  was  to  take  me  to  the  prison,  the 
noise  of  swords  made  my  nerves  thrill ;  there  was  a  hum- 
ming in  my  ears,  and  I  was  afraid !  Death,  which  I  be- 
lieved my  doom  at  that  moment,  looked  to  me  sad,  dis- 
graceful, guilty ;  and  1  had  not  the  courage  to  accept  it  in 
that  character.  Nothing  happened  then,  however,  except 
that  I  was  fastened  into  my  dungeon  with  shackles.  The 
days  passed,  and  the  mind  habituated  itself  to  conquer  its 
anxieties  and  disenchantment,  as  the  eyes  habituated  them- 
selves to  the  darkness.  I  was  a  passive  victim,  and  except 
my  family,  no  one  seemed  to  care  for  my  fate.  My  cause 
was  no  one's  but  my  own.  I  suffered  because  I  had  been 
indiscreet,  because  I  had  desired  to  attack  the  evil  without 
possessing  the  means  to  attack  it ;  to  material  facts  I  op- 
posed protests,  and  solitary  abnegation,  and  the  facts  took 
their  own  course  in  spite  of  me. 

"  On  the  night  of  the  17th  of  November,  at  two  in  the 


334  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

morning,  a  group  of  horsemen  parading  in  front  of  the 
prison,  cried  out, '  Death  to  the  Unitarios.'  So  without 
antecedents  was  that  cry,  so  coldly  and  composedly  did  it 
proceed  out  of  the  mouths  of  those  who  pronounced  it, 
that  it  was  evident  that  it  was  a  thing  arranged  and  agreed 
upon  dispassionately.  I  understood  perfectly  that  there 
was  some  design  on  foot.  At  four  o'clock  the  same  thing 
was  repeated.  I  was  awake,  writing  some  foolish  thing 
which  kept  me  entertained.  At  dawn,  an  Andalusian  was 
brought  into  the  prison  who  pretended  to  be  drunk,  and  in 
the  midst  of  repartees  and  laughable  jokes,  designed  to 
distract  the  attention  of  the  sentinels,  in  passing  me,  mak- 
ing an  evolution  round  another  prisoner  who  was  with  me, 
he  let  fall  short  phrases  — '  They  are  going  to  assassinate 

them.  The  troops  are  coming  into  the  square .  The 

commandant  Espinosa  is  going  to  lance Senor  Sar- 

miento  ! Save  yourself  if  you  can  ! ' 

"  This  time  I  was  equal  to  the  situation.  I  sent  home  a 
boy,  wrote  to  the  bishop  that  he  must  not  be  frightened, 
and  that  he  must  try  by  his  presence  to  save  me ;  but  the 
poor  old  man  did  just  the  contrary ;  he  was  frightened, 
and  his  legs  would  not  hold  him  up.  The  troops  came 
and  formed  in  the  square  ;  the  boy  who  stood  at  the  door 
of  the  dungeon  in  the  character  of  a  telegraph,  communi- 
cated to  me  all  the  movements.  Some  cries  were  heard 
in  the  square,  and  there  was  much  running  of  horses.  I 
saw  the  lance  of  Espinosa  pass  by.  There  was  a  moment 
of  silence,  and  soon  eighty  officers  collected  in  a  group 
near  the  prison,  crying,  '  Bring  down  the  prisoners  ! '  The 
officer  of  the  guard  came  to  me  and  ordered  me  to  go  out. 

"  '  By  whose  order  ?  ' 

"  '  By  Commandant  Espinosa's.' 

"  '  I  do  not  obey.' 

"  He  then  passed  on  to  the  next  cell,  and  brought  out 


FACE  TO  FACE  WITH  DEATH.  335 

Oro  and  exhibited  him.  But  on  seeing  him  they  cried, 
fc  Come  down  !  Not  he  !  Sarmiento  !  ' 

"  4  Go  then,'  I  said  to  myself,  *  there  is  no  way  of  getting 
excused  here.'  I  went  out  and  was  saluted  with  a  hur- 
rah of  threats  and  insults  by  men  who  did  not  know  me, 
with  the  exception  of  two  who  had  reason  to  detest 
me. 

" i  Come  down  !    Come  down  !     Crucify  him.' 

"  '  I  do  not  obey  !     You  have  no  right  to  send  for  me." 

" '  Officer  of  the  guard,  strike  him  down  with  your 
sword  ! ' 

" '  Go  down,'  said  the  latter  to  me  with  his  sword  up- 
lifted. 

** '  I  do  not  obey,'  I  said,  taking  hold  of  the  iron  railing. 

"  '  Go  down  ! '  and  he  struck  me  with  his  sword. 

"  '  I  do  not  obey,'  I  repeated  quietly. 

"  '  Give  him  the  edge  ! '  cried  Espinosa,  foaming  with 
rage.  '  If  he  stays  up  there,  I  will  pierce  him  with  my 
lance,  Mr.  officer  of  the  guard.' 

" '  Go  down,  sir,  for  God's  sake,'  said  the  good  official  in 
a  low  voice,  ashamed,  in  spite  of  himself,  and  half  weep- 
ing ;  while  he  discharged  blows  upon  me  with  his  sword. 
*  I  shall  give  you  the  edge,  indeed  I  shall.' 

"  <  Do  what  you  please,'  I  said.    *  I  do  not  obey.' 

"  Some  cries  of  alarm  from  two  windows  in  the  square 
from  voices  which  were  known  to  me,  on  seeing  that  sword 
rise  and  fall,  had  disturbed  me  a  little.  But  I  wished  to 
die  as  I  had  lived,  as  I  had  sworn  to  live,  without  even 
willfully  consenting  to  violence.  Besides,  I  must  humbly 
confess  that  I  had  a  little  stratagem  in  reserve.  I  had 
ascertained  that  Benavides  was  not  in  the  square,  and  this 
datum  had  enabled  me  rapidly  to  arrange  my  plan  of  de- 
fense. The  railing  of  the  City  Hall  steps  was  really  my 
table  of  safety.  *  The  troops  have  come  to  the  square,'  I 


336  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

said  to  myself.  '  Now  Benavides  has  a  part  in  this  affair, 
but  he  is  not  here,  in  order  to  refer  this  outrage  to  the 
Federal  enthusiasm,  as  Rosas  called  the  assassination  of 
Mana.  which  he  denounced  as  '  an  atrocious  license  in  a 
moment  of  profound  and  immense  popular  irritation.' 
The  prison  is  in  a  straight  line,  a  square  and  a  half  from 
Benavides'  house.  Sound  runs  so  many  leagues  a  minute, 
and  to  go  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  yards  required  only 
a  second  of  time.  In  vain  would  the  Governor  have 
wished  to  wash  his  hands  of  that  anonymous  outrage,  for 
here  was  I  in  a  high  and  respectable  place  to  send  the 
crime  to  its  source  and  origin.  The  servants  of  Benavides' 
house,  one  of  his  scribes,  and  his  aide-de-camp,  ran  on  see- 
ing the  sword  glisten  as  it  revolved  in  the  air  over  my 
head,  and  one  after  another,  as  they  ran  into  the  house, 
shrieked,  '  Sir !  sir  !  they  are  killing  Don  Domingo  ! '  I 
had  then  caught  my  cunning  gaucho  in  his  own  net. 
Either  he  confessed  himself  an  accomplice,  or  he  would 
send  the  order  to  leave  me  in  peace.  Benavides  had  not 
courage  at  that  time  to  take  that  responsibility  ;  my  blood 
would  have  been  distilling  over  his  heart  drop  by  drop  all 
the  rest  of  his  life  ! 

"When  the  furies  who  cried  'come  down/  were  con- 
vinced that  I  would  not  die  under  the  hoofs  of  the  horses, 
it  being  my  pleasure  to  do  that  in  a  decent  and  clean 
place,  ten  or  twelve  rushed  up  the  steps,  and  catching  me 
in  their  arms,  carried  me  down,  at  the  moment  when  a 
dozen  hussars  whom  Espinosa  had  sent  for  to  despatch 
me,  had  arrived  at  the  spot.  But  Espenosa  wished  to  see 
my  face  and  to  terrify  me.  The  comic  actor  whom  I 
hissed  in  the  theatre,  made  captain  of  the  Confederacy, 
held  his  sword  at  my  breast  with  his  eyes  fixed  on 
Espinosa,  ready  at  a  signal  to  thrust  it  into  me.  The 
commandant  whirled  his  lance  and  pricked  me  on  my  side, 


IN  PRISON.  337 

uttering  blasphemies.  I  kept  my  countenance  composed, 
stereotyped,  just  as  I  wished  it  to  look  after  death.  Espi- 
nosa  pricked  harder,  but  my  countenance  remained  impassi- 
ble, if  I  might  judge  by  the  rage  it  inspired  him  with,  for 
recovering  his  lance,  he  gave  me  a  horrible  thrust.  The 
blade  was  half  a  yard  long  and  the  width  of  a  hand,  and  I 
preserved  for  many  a  day  the  scar  which  was  left  on  my 
wrist  by  my  effort  in  wresting  it  out  of  my  side.  Then 
the  brute  prepared  to  satiate  his  mocking  rage.  I,  in- 
spired by  the  sentiment  of  self-preservation,  and  calcu- 
lating that  it  was  time  for  Benavides'  aide-de-camp  to 
arrive,  raised  my  hand  over  my  head  and  said  imperiously, 
'  Listen !  Commandant,'  and  as  he  lent  his  attention,  I 
turned  round,  thrust  myself  under  the  gallery  to  get  round 
the  other  side  of  the  horses,  and  as  I  arrived  at  the  end 
they  fell  upon  me.  I  warded  off  a  cloud  of  bayonets  with 
both  hands,  and  at  that  moment  the  Governor's  aide  arrived 
with  orders  to  suspend  the  farce,  consenting  only  that  they 
should  shave  me,  as  they  had  done  to  many  others.  If  he 
had  not  permitted  some  punishment,  Espinosa  would  have 
wholly  lost  the  dominion  of  his  passions,  and  I  should  not 
have  had  sufficient  coolness  to  pull  off  the  mask  under 
which  Benavides  wished  to  hide  himself.  They  put  me 
into  the  lowest  dungeon,  and  then  occurred  a  scene 
which  doubled  the  terror  of  the  people :  my  mother  and 
two  of  my  sisters  defied  the  guards,  ascended  the  steps ; 
they  were  seen  to  go  in  and  out  of  the  empty  cells,  then 
descended  like  a  vision,  and  rushed  to  the  house  of  Bena- 
vides to  demand  the  son,  the  brother !  0,  the  agonies 
that  despotism  inflicts ! 

"  What  passed  next  many  know,  but  it  was  not  I  who 

supplicated  or  gave  satisfaction !   for  on  no  day  of  that 

trial  did  I  belie  the  severity  of  my  principles  nor  did  my 

spirit  flag  again.     One  thing  in  regard  to  this  event  I  will 

22 


338  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH, 

record  here  for  the  benefit  of  those  who  despair  of  due 
punishment  being  meted  out  to  crimes  committed  with 
impunity  ten  years  ago.  The  perpetrators  of  that  bloody 
farce,  all  without  one  exception,  have  died  a  bloody  death. 
A  fatal  ball  struck  Espinosa  at  Angaco.  Acha,  coming 
suddenly  into  the  street  one  dark  night,  fired  a  few  shots 
out  of  mere  wantonness  into  the  square,  and  the  comic 
actor,  who  hoped  for  Espinosa's  signal  to  stab  me,  fell 
dead  from  his  horse ;  the  Indian  Saavedra,  who  had  given 
me  a  thrust,  was  assassinated.  And  the  crippled  gaucho 
Fernandez,  who  wallowed  in  drunkenness  and  dissipation, 
if  he  yet  lives,  it  is  to  show  who  was  the  Governor's  adju- 
tant in  those  days  of  madness  and  infamy.  Like  my 
mother,  I  believe  in  Providence ;  and  Barcena,  Gaetan, 
Salomon,  and  all  the  Mashorqueros  (thugs)  assassinated  by 
each  other,  or  sentenced  by  him  who  had  put  the  dagger 
into  their  hands,  devoured  by  remorse,  desperation,  deli- 
rium, and  the  contempt  of  men,  tormented  by  epilepsy  or 
wasted  by  consumption,  have  made  me  hope  yet  for 
the  end  which  will  adjust  all  things.  Rosas  is  already  in 
despair !  His  body  is  a  skeleton,  trembling  and  disjointed. 
The  venom  of  his  soul  is  corroding  the  vase  which  holds  it, 
and  you  will  soon  hear  it  crack,  that  his  putrescent  exist- 
ence may  give  place  to  the  rehabilitation  of  morality  and 
justice,  and  to  the  sentiments  of  humanity  compromised 
for  so  many  years.  Woe,  then,  to  those  who  have  not  re- 
pented of  their  crimes!  The  greatest  punishment  that 
can  be  inflicted  upon  them  is  to  live,  and  I  wish  to  inflict 
upon  all,  without  exception,  this  punishment. 

"  My  residence  of  four  years  in  San  Juan  —  and  this  is  the 
only  epoch  of  my  adult  life  that  I  have  resided  in  my  own 
country  —  was  a  continuous  and  obstinate  combat.  I,  like 
others,  wished  to  elevate  myself,  and  the  least  concession 
on  my  part  would  have  opened  to  me  the  door  to  the 


EXILE.  339 

administration  of  Benavides,  and  to  a  place  in  his  army.  He 
desired  it,  and  in  the  beginning  had  a  great  esteem  for 
me ;  but  I  wished  to  rise  in  the  world  without  sinning 
against  morality  or  committing  crimes  against  liberty  and 
civilization.  Public  balls,  societies,  masquerades,  theatres, 
I  was  always  at  the  head  of;  to  the  growing  ignorance  I 
opposed  colleges ;  to  the  crime  of  governing  without  law 
or  justice  I  replied  with  a  periodical ;  against  the  attempt 
to  suppress  such  a  publication  illegally,  I  gave  my  person 
to  the  prison  ;  against  the  holding  of  extraordinary  powers 
I  advocated  by  speech  and  writing  the  right  of  petitioning 
the  representatives  in  order  to  make  them  fulfill  their 
duty  ;  to  intimidation  I  opposed  firmness  and  contempt ;  to 
the  knife  of  the  18th  of  November,  an  impassible  counte- 
nance, and  patience  under  mocking  impositions  and  igno- 
ble deceit.  Everything  that  is  evil  has  been  said  of  me, 
and  some  evil  has  been  believed  of  me  in  San  Juan ;  but 
no  one  has  ever  doubted  my  honor  or  my  patriotism,  and 
I  appeal  for  the  truth  of  this  to  the  testimony  of  those 
who  have  chosen  to  call  themselves  my  enemies.  I  lived 
honorably,  making  an  efficient  workman  by  means  of  some 
rudiments  of  practical  geometry  and  the  art  of  drawing 
up  plans  which  I  acquired  in  my  childhood.  Forced  by 
want  of  lawyers,  I  defended  some  causes ;  and  when  Dr. 
Aberastain  was  supreme  judge  of  Alzada,  and  my  intimate 
friend,  I  lost  before  his  tribunal  the  two  most  important 
ones.  If  this  does  not  testify  to  my  legal  capacity,  it  at 
least  shows  the  incorruptibility  of  the  judge." 

The  next  day,  on  passing  through  the  baths  of 
Zonda  into  exile,  ancf  turning  his  back  upon  all  the 
comforts  and  pleasures  of  life,  he  wrote  with  a  piece 
of  charcoal,  with  the  hand  covered  with  the  scars  of 
his  late  encounter,  that  noble  protest  which  he  quotes 
in  the  prologue  to  "  Civilization  and  Barbarism  "  — 


340  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

"  On  ne  tue  pas  Us  idSes  !  " 

An  English  writer  says  of  this  :  — 

"  Let  those  acquainted  with  Senor  Sarmiento  say  whether 
he  has  fulfilled  his  mission.  There  is  in  these  few  words 
a  satire  which  tells  volumes.  It  brands  his  enemies  with 
ignorance,  at  the  same  time  that  it  is  extremely  ludicrous 
and  cutting.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  less  interest- 
ing anecdotes  than  this  have  appeared  in  Disraeli's  '  Curi- 
osities of  Literature/  "  * 

Again  he  emigrated  to  Chili,  thought  seriously  of 
establishing  himself  there,  and  had  the  intention  of 
opening  a  college,  but  one  of  his  compatriots  dissuaded 
him  from  it,  and  facilitated  his  writing  for  the  periodic 
press.  By  way  of  experiment,  he  sent  from  Santiago  to 
the  only  journal  of  Chili,  the  "  Valparaiso  Mercury,"  an 
anonymous  article  signed  "  A  Lieutenant  of  Artillery," 
upon  the  battle  of  Chacabuco,  which  attracted  notice 
in  literary  and  political  society  by  its  freshness  of  style 
and  elevation  of  thought. 

A  mutual  jealousy  of  each  other's  glory  has  always 
prevailed  among  the  States  of  South  America,  occa- 
sioned by  their  efforts  to  establish  themselves  as  dis- 
tinct nations,  with  more  definite  limits  than  any 
previously  suggested  by  their  geography  or  by  the 
history  of  their  war  for  independence.  This  jealousy 
has  often  led  to  the  perversion  of  history,  and,  at  the 
time  we  are  considering,  Chili  had  well-nigh  erased 
from  her  records  the  glorious  *  name  of  San  Martin, 
and  thrust  into  the  background  the  share  of  the  Ar- 
gentines in  the  battles  of  Chacabuco  and  Maypo,  which 
decided  the  establishment  of  Chilian  independence. 

1  River  Plate  Magazine,  No.  3,  page  151. 


LITERARY  LABOR  IN  CHILI.  341 

The  above-mentioned  article  upon  the  first  of  these 
battles,  followed  by  another  upon  the  second,  roused 
the  generous  sentiments  of  the  people  by  its  pathos, 
and  earnestly  appealed  to  the  justice  of  the  generation 
then  in  full  enjoyment  of  the  fruits  of  the  great  deeds 
whose  contemporaries  had  of  necessity  received  wounds 
as  well  as  gifts  from  the  rough  hands  of  war.  So 
timely  was  this  appeal  in  behalf  of  a  just  claim  to 
renown  obscured  by  prejudice  and  malice,  that  it  gained 
for  its  author,  hitherto  without  a  name,  in  two  senses, 
a  position  in  the  unfamiliar  theatre  in  which  he  had 
thus  appeared,  and  for  General  San  Martin  the  rank 
and  pay  of  Captain-General  that  very  year,  and  sub- 
sequently the  tokens  of  gratitude  due  from  a  nation  to 
its  liberators,  visible  to-day  in  the  equestrian  statue 
erected  to  his  memory  in  the  finest  boulevard  of  San- 
tiago, facing  the  Andes  and  surrounded  by  the  poplars 
which  he  himself  had  planted. 

The  party  which  was  in  the  Chilian  government  at 
this  time  asked  through  one  of  the  secretaries  the  con- 
currence of  Sefior  Sarmiento  at  the  approaching  elec- 
tion. The  first  words  Don  Manuel  Montt1  said  to  him, 
were,  "Ideas,  sir,  have  no  country."  From  that 
moment  they  understood  each  other.  I  wish  I  had 
space  to  delineate  the  character  of  Don  Manuel  Montt. 
"  My  meeting  him  in  the  path  of  my  life,"  says  Senor 
Sarmiento,  in  speaking  of  this  gentleman,  "  gave  a  new 
phase  to  my  existence,  and  if  it  attains  any  noble  ends, 
I  shall  owe  it  to  his  aid  opportunely  tendered." 

By  request  he  took  the  editorship  of  the  "  Mercu- 
rio,"  which  he  successfully  carried  through  the  politi- 
cal campaign  of  that  year,  and  he  also  founded  and 

1  Then  Minister  of  State  in  Chili. 


342  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

edited  the  "  Nacional "  in  Santiago.  Of  course,  such 
vigorous  articles  as  he  wrote  upon  all  subjects  provoked 
opposition.  Even  South  American  apathy  was  stung 
into  repartee,  and  he  needed  all  the  steadiness  and 
calmness  of  his  friend  Montt  to  enable  him  to  bear  the 
abuse  that  the  "  Revista  Catolica "  and  the  "  Semi- 
nario  "  heaped  upon  him,  but  out  of  this  strife  came 
many  improvements. 

In  1841,  at  the  end  of  the  electoral  campaign  which 
secured  the  triumph  of  their  candidate,  he  took  leave 
of  Don  Manuel  Montt  and  the  editorship  of  the  "  Mer- 
curio  "  and  the  "  Nacional,"  to  return  to  fight  the  battles 
of  his  country.  Montt  opposed  his  intention,  assuring 
him  that  there  was  no  safety  there  for  him ;  that  the 
situation  of  Colonel  La  Madrid,  who  was  bravely  op- 
posing Rosas,  was  very  critical.  But,  for  that  very 
reason,  Senor  Sarmiento's  resolution  was  irrevocable. 
He  was  determined  to  offer  the  aid  of«  his  arm  in  that 
cause,  and  furnished  with  a  warm  letter  of  introduc- 
tion to  La  Madrid  from  the  Argentine  Commission  in 
Chili,  who  well  knew  the  value  of  his  assistance,  and 
accompanied  by  three  other  compatriots,  he  set  out  on 
foot  to  surmount  the  Andes  and  join  the  General  at 
Mendoza.  After  the  fearful  passage  of  the  mountain 
summits  was  effected,  through  the  peculiar  and  re- 
peated dangers  incident  to  such  regions,  on  descending 
the  eastern  side,  his  rencontre  with  his  countrymen  was 
as  distressing  as  unexpected.  He  and  his  little  party 
saw  afar  off,  like  blots  upon  the  interminable  wastes  of 
snow,  groups  of  fleeing  soldiers,  and  looking  at  each 
other  in  dismay,  they  could  only  exclaim,  "  Routed!" 
and  seen  from  afar  by  the  fugitives,  the  latter  repeated 
the  word  "  routed,"  across  the  snows. 


ROUT  OF  LA  MADRID'S  ARMY.        343 

At  the  foot  of  the  Vacas,  a  lofty  summit,  they  found, 
in  a  small  hut,  the  first  detachment  from  Mendoza,  and 
other  squads  arrived  from  time  to  time  during  the  day 
from  the  battle-ground  of  La  Cienega  del  Media,  find- 
ing no  shelter  but  that  of  the  rocks,  and  no  food  but 
what  each  one  had  brought  for  himself.  Toward  night 
came  the  rear-guard  with  La  Madrid  himself,  accom- 
panied by  Alvarez  and  the  other  chiefs.  Many  others 
having  been  decapitated  at  Uspellata,  among  whom 
were  the  Commandant  Sagrana  and  six  other  chiefs. 
Hundreds  had  taken  refuge  in  the  mountains,  and  of 
these,  many  were  youths  of  the  first  families  of  Bue- 
nos Ayres  and  the  northern  Argentine  Provinces,  who 
had  volunteered  with  patriotic  enthusiasm  to  resist  the 
tyrant  Rosas.  Not  a  moment  was  to  be  lost  if  he 
would  save  the  lives  of  his  countrymen.  Senor  Sar- 
miento  and  his  companions,  without  waiting  to  take 
rest,  retraced  their  steps  over  the  giant  heights  to 
Aconcagua. 

At  Los  Andes,  the  first  town  on  the  other  side  of  the 
mountains,  Senor  Sarmiento  established  himself  in  the 
house  of  a  friend,  and  for  twelve  hours,  with  another 
friend  for  his  secretary,  brought  into  requisition  his 
executive  abilities,  so  often  tested  in  his  adventurous 
life.  That  very  afternoon  he  sought,  contracted  for, 
and  despatched  twelve  mountain  laborers  to  the  aid 
of  the  exhausted  fugitives,  purchased,  collected,  and 
despatched  six  loads  of  substantial  comforts,  sent  an 
express  to  the  Argentine  Commission  at  Santiago  to 
put  them  in  motion  ;  wrote  to  Don  Manuel  Montt,  the 
minister,  asking  for  government  aid,  physicians,  and 
other  help  ;  a  letter  to  certain  friends  that  they  might 


344  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH. 

appeal  to  public  charity ;  one  to  the  director  of  the 
theatre,  to  give  an  entertainment  for  their  benefit,  and 
an  article  to  the  "  Mercuric  "  of  Valparaiso  to  alarm 
the  whole  country  and  awake  compassion.  When  the 
assistance  he  had  so  quickly  collected  was  on  the  way, 
and  the  various  couriers  despatched  with  the  letters, 
and  his  purse  emptied  to  the  last  maravedi,  he  was 
obliged  to  seek  repose,  for  he  had  run  down  the  moun- 
tains from  Los  Ojos  de  Agua  to  Los  Andes  without  rest- 
ing from  his  previous  ascent.  Within  two  days  he 
received  replies  from  General  las  Heras  and  his  friends 
Gana,  Zapata,  and  Quiroga  Rosas,  which  do  honor  to 
themselves  as  well  as  to  him.  In  three  days  sufficient 
food,  medicines,  physicians,  etc.,  etc.,  for  a  thousand 
men,  were  on  their  way  over  the  giant  heights. 

The  danger  of  the  transit  was  increased  by  threats 
of  an  approaching  storm.  Those  conversant  with  the 
Andes  knew  by  the  heavy  clouds,  always  more  danger- 
ous than  the  frozen  snows,  and  on  this  day,  unusually 
dark  and  lowering,  that  it  would  be  of  more  than  ordi- 
nary violence.  It  was  easy  after  the  first  day  to  calculate 
how  many  out  of  the  thousand  would  be  frozen  before 
succor  could  reach  them.  The  sublime  but  heart- 
rending spectacle  of  the  gently  falling  snow  that 
covered  every  rock  and  quenched  every  fire  that  was 
kindled,  chilled  the  hopes  of  the  relieving  party,  but 
no  one  turned  back.  After  three  days  of  suffering, 
seven  of  the  fugitives  had  perished,  and  many  others 
had  lost  their  limbs  by  frost  before  the  physicians  got 
to  the  foot  of  the  Cordilleras.  An  Argentine  artist 
has  immortalized  upon  canvas  the  scene  in  which  the 
first  Chilian  broke  the  snow  on  arriving  at  the  spot. 


FUGITIVES  IN  THE  MOUNTAINS.  345 

The  heat  and  shelter  of  the  hut  had  saved  three  hun- 
dred, a  leaning  rock  had  sheltered  another  hundred, 
and  their  ponchos,  by  confining  the  warmth  to  their 
bodies,  had  saved  the  rest.  But  they  were  nearly 
starved.  Among  the  refugees  was  the  famous  El 
Chacho,  who  had  succeeded  Facundo  Quiroga  in  the 
chieftainship  of  the  peasantry.  He  had  thrown  him- 
self on  the  side  of  General  La  Madrid  against  Rosas, 
but  had  contributed  not  a  little  to  the  loss  of  the  battle 
by  his  rashness  and  want  of  discipline.  He  did  not 
know,  when  his  life  was  then  saved  by  the  aid  of  Senor 
Sarmiento,  that  twenty  years  later  he  and  his  hordes 
would  be  annihilated  by  that  same  deliverer.  Like 
other  peasant  chiefs,  El  Chacho,  who  mingled  in  all 
the  disputes  of  the  country,  sometimes  took  one  side, 
sometimes  the  other,  and  was  now  a  dangerouse  nemy, 
and  now  a  dangerous  friend,  according  as  his  caprices 
led  him.  Senor  Sarmiento  somewhere  likens  this  chief- 
tain to  the  Radies  of  Arabia,  who  receive  from  every 
new  government  some  privilege  or  post,  said  govern- 
ment shutting  its  eyes  to  the  risk  of  treachery  should 
self-interest  interpose  its  claims. 

Senor  Sarmiento  was  thus  thrown  back  upon  Chili, 
and  his  first  reception  in  Santiago  was  a  sad  chill 
over  a  doubly  exiled  heart.  He  was  charged  through 
the  press  with  having  complained  of  the  hardness  of 
some  of  the  people  while  he  eulogized  the  generosity 
of  others  to  his  unfortunate  countrymen,  and  then  of 
improper  use  of  the  scanty  funds  he  had  collected  for 
their  necessities.  The  man  who  made  the  charge  was 
not  a  compatriot,  nor  had  he  contributed,  nor  did  he 
know  how  the  money  was  appropriated,  and  must  have 


346  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

invented  the  slander  with  what  Mr.  Sarmiento  called 
the  "  most  exquisite  evil  intention."  General  Las 
Heras  answered  the  charge  and  vindicated  him,  "  but 
for  a  long  time,"  he  says,  "  I  was  frightened  by  that 
gratuitous  and  spontaneous  act  of  depravity,  and  frozen 
by  it  as  if  a  jar  of  cold  water  had  been  poured  over 
me." 

He  soon  resumed  the  editorship  of  the  "  Mercurio," 
and  one  of  the  most  active,  most  agitated,  and  most 
fruitful  phases  of  his  life  —  fruitful  to  himself  and  to 
others  —  ensued.  Every  interest  of  society  responded 
to  his  touch. 

He  endeavored  to  organize  primary  instruction  for 
the  people  —  an  idea  that  had  never  dawned  upon  the 
Chilian  mind. 

The  proposition  for  a  popular  tax  for  education  was 
well  received,  but  there  was  no  thought  of  any  other 
appropriation  of  it  than  to  educate  the  upper  classes 
with  it !  Senor  Sarmiento  put  the  new  idea  into  actual 
operation  for  the  people.  The  newspaper  he  established 
was  the  first  ever  edited  in  Santiago,  the  residence  of 
learned  and  literary  Chilians.  He  wrote  the  first 
spelling-book  in  which  the  correct  sounds  of  the  Span- 
ish alphabet  were  given,  and  which  was  afterwards 
printed  in  the  United  States  and  illustrated  with  vig- 
nettes ;  banished  from  the  schools  such  books  as  u  The 
Temporal  and  Eternal,"  "  The  Pains  of  Hell,"  and 
others  of  a  similar  character,  fit  only  to  mislead  the 
minds  of  youth  and  imbue  them  with  false  ideas,  and 
replaced  them  with  "  The  Life  of  Jesus  Christ,"  "  Mo- 
rality in  Deed  and  Life,"  "  The  Conscience  of  a  Child," 
"  The  Life  of  Franklin,"  "  The  Why,  or  the  Science 


NORMAL  SCHOOL  IN  CHILI.  347 

of  Things,"  etc.,  etc.  He  presented  to  the  university 
of  Chili  the  first  paper  upon  orthography  that  ever  saw 
the  light  in  Spanish  America,  where  the  language  had 
become  sadly  corrupted  ;  founded  the  "  Monitor  for 
Schools,"  a  large  periodical  in  which  he  treated  in  a 
masterly  manner  the  most  difficult  questions  upon 
popular  education,  stimulating  the  teachers  and  de- 
fending them  against  arbitrary  acts  and  stupid  decrees. 
This  periodical  he  wished  to  call  •  by  a  more  compre- 
hensive title,  which  should  commend  it  to  the  perusal 
of  all  classes,  of  literary  men  as  well  as  of  school- 
masters, but  this  was  thought  too  pretentious  by  the 
government,  in  whose  name  everything  was  done,  with- 
out rendering  any  credit  to  the  real  author  of  books 
or  measures,  because  indeed  he  was  a  foreigner !  Not 
till  long  after  he  left  the  country,  when  the  editorship 
of  this  valuable  work  was  resumed  after  an  interval  of 
many  years,  was  his  name  ever  publicly  mentioned  in 
connection  with  it.  This  tardy  recognition  saved  the 
credit  of  the  country,  but  Senor  Sarmiento  did  not 
have  its  aid  in  the  difficult  days  when  he  made  bricks 
without  straw. 

It  was  at  this  period,  1842,  that  he  founded  the  first 
Normal  School  that  was  opened  on  this  side  the  Atlan- 
tic. For  three  years  he  directed  it  in  person,  and  it  is 
remarkable  to  observe,  that  unaided  and  alone  he 
thought  out  and  put  in  practice  all  those  methods  of 
instruction  most  approved  by  advanced  minds  at  the 
present  day.  Indeed,  it  was  living  instruction  such  as 
we  can  hardly  boast  in  our  days  of  text  books,  when 
the  mine  from  which  the  teaching  is  done  is  not  always 
in  the  mind  of  the  teacher.  Senor  Sarmiento  had  few 


348  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

text-books,  nor  did  he  need  them.  Everything  he 
taught  was  practically  illustrated  and  embellished  from 
the  vast  stores  of  his  varied  acquirements. 

Don  •  Jose  Suarez,  his  Chilian  biographer,  describes 
his  methods  of  instruction  minutely.  He  dwells  much 
upon  his  moral  influence,  which  was  of  the  noblest  kind. 
He  says  of  him  in  this  relation  :  — 

"  Sarmiento  always  treated  us  as  friends,  inspiring  us 
with  that  respectful  confidence  which  makes  a  superior  so 
dear.  He  was  always  ready  to  favor  us  and  to  help  us  in 
our  misfortunes ;  he  often  despoiled  himself  of  his  own 
garments  to  give  them  to  his  pupils,  the  greater  part  of 
whom  were  poor.  He  often  invited  us  to  accompany  him 
in  his  afternoon  walks  in  order  to  give  us  importance  in 
the  eyes  of  others,  and  to  comfort  our  hearts  by  encour- 
agement. It  was  my  happiness  often  to  accompany  him  to 
the  Convent  of  la  Dominica,  and  to  other  places.  He 
always  gave  us  his  arm  in  these  walks.  When  he  returned 
from  Europe  in  1847,  he  who  traces  these  remembrances, 
on  the  occasion  of  visiting  him  at  his  place  of  residence, 
was  presented  with  all  the  etiquette  of  fashion,  and  as  if 
he  were  a  distinguished  man,  to  the  Minister  of  the  In- 
terior, Don  Manuel  Montt,  who  had  come  to  welcome  him 
home.  In  our  career  of  schoolmaster,  we  do  not  remem- 
ber that  the  hand  of  so  distinguished  a  Chilian  ever 
touched  our  humble  one  as  on  that  occasion.  We  had 
previously  been  presented  to  the  Seiior  General  Las- 
Heras,  Dr.  Ocampo,  and  other  Argentines  of  importance, 
who  visited  Sarmiento.  He  treated  his  pupils  thus,  not 
because  we  were  individually  worthy  of  the  honor,  but  to 
give  importance  to  our  profession,  then  humiliated,  calum- 
niated, and  despised.1  But  he  himself,  in  spite  of  his 

1  Not  ten  years  before  the  foundation  of  the  Normal  School,  the  Cour 


EDITOR  OF  PERIODICALS.  349 

learning  and  his  influential  relatives,  was  called  by  the 
disdainful  epithets  of  cleric  and  schoolmaster,  and  was  in- 
sulted every  day  to  his  face  by  the  supercilious  Chilians, 
my  compatriots ! " 

Don  Jose*  is  partially  right  in  saying  this.  In 
1843  he  founded  and  edited  the  periodical  called  "  El 
Progreso,"  the  first  paper  that  had  ever  been  printed 
in  Santiago  de  Chili,  the  residence  of  learned  Chilians. 
He  also  edited  the  "Argentine  Herald,"  in  behalf  of 
his  countrymen,  unjustly  abused  by  Rosas.  Envy, 
jealousy,  hatred,  prejudice,  and  ill-will  were  his  por- 
tion for  a  long  time,  growing  out  of  his  active  effort 
to  ameliorate  evils.  Rival  papers  heaped  abuses  upon 
him;  he  was  sensitive  to  blame;  his  patriotic  heart 
was  doubly  sore  with  the  repeated  and  apparently  in- 
curable miseries  of  his  country  ;  the  word  foreigner, 
when  applied  to  him,  was  a  dagger  in  a  heart  like  his 
that  was  ready  to  toil  for  his  adopted  country  as  if  it 
were  his  own.  The  impetuosity  of  his  nature  was  not 
yet  softened  even  into  apparent  concession  to  a  present 
evil.  He  was  unceremonious  in  speaking  the  truth, 
and  the  truth  is  the  sharpest  of  swords  to  the  evil 
disposed  or  the  apathetic.  There  was  no  peace  for 
any  one  in  his  sphere  who  stood  in  the  way  of  the  re- 
forms which  he  felt  to  be  vital  to  the  very  existence  of 
civilized  society,  certainly  to  the  continuance  of  free 
governments  in  those  unhappy  countries.  He  did  not 
make  personal  attacks,  but  the  strife  of  pens  waxed 

of  Santiago  had  condemned  a  robber  who  had  stolen  the  candelabra  of  the 
Virgin  in  the  Church  of  San  Merced,  "to  serve  as  a  schoolmaster  in 
Copiapo  for  the  term  of  three  years,"  as  they  would  have  condemned  him 
to  be  whipped  or  to  labor  in  the  Penitentiary. 


350  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

hot,  and  such  was  the  exasperation  of  his  mind  that 
one  day,  as  he  describes  it,  — 

"  It  touched  upon  delirium ;  I  was  frantic,  demented, 
and  conceived  the  sublime  idea  of  castigating  all  Chili ; 
declaring  it  ungrateful,  infamous,  vile.  I  wrote  I  know 
not  what  diatribe,  put  my  name  to  it,  and  carried  it  to  the 
press  of  '  el  Progreso,'  giving  it  directly  into  the  hands  of 
the  compositors.  I  then  returned  home  in  silence,  loaded 
my  pistols,  and  awaited  the  explosion  of  the  mine  I  had 
laid  for  my  own  destruction,  but  I  felt  avenged,  and  satis- 
fied that  I  had  achieved  a  great  act  of  justice.  Nations,  I 
said  to  myself,  may  be  criminal,  and  are  so  at  times,  and 
there  is  no  judge  who  can  punish  them  adequately  but 
their  own  tyrants  or  their  own  writers.  I  complained  of 
the  President,  of  Montt,  of  the  Viales,  in  order  that  no 
one  should  escape  my  justice  ;  and  to  the  writers  and  the 
public  in  general  I  told  horrible,  humiliating  truths,  enough 
to  rouse  the  indignation  of  a  whole  city,  till  beside  itself 
with  anger  it  should  demand  the  head  of  the  audacious 
one  who  could  so  insult  it. 

"  From  this  certain  danger  I  was  saved  by  the  kindness 
of  Don  Jacobo  Vial,  to  whom  the  frightened  compositors 
had  shown  my  manuscript.  Don  Antonio  came  to  my 
house  looking  very  sad,  and  spoke  to  me  in  the  gentle  and 
compassionate  voice  with  which  one  is  wont  to  address  a 
lunatic.  No  sign  of  displeasure  or  of  resentment  appeared 
in  his  countenance. 

"  l  Don  Domingo,'  he  said,  <  the  printers  have  shown  me 
the  article  you  left  with  them  this  morning.' 

"  '  I  hear -you.' 

"  *  Have  you  considered  the  consequences  ?  ' 

"  «  Perfectly,'  looking  at  my  pistols. 

"  '  It  is  useless.' 

"  *  I  know  it ;  leave  me  in  peace  ! ' 


TRIALS   IN  CHILI.  351 

"  '  Has  Lopez  seen  it  ? ' 

"  *  No.' 

"  Don  Antonio  took  his  hat  and  went  to  Lopez  and  to 
the  minister,  to  advise  Don  Manuel  Montt  of  what  I  had 
done.  Lopez  came  and  made  me  consent  that  he  should 
see  the  article,  and  erase  some  words.  This  was  at  three 
in  the  afternoon ;  at  twelve  that  night,  Don  Antonio 
brought  me  a  note  from  Lopez  in  which  he  told  me  that 
he  had  given  up  erasing  words,  for  this  was  making  con- 
cessions ;  that  if  I  insisted  upon  publishing  the  article  in 
spite  of  the  disapprobation  of  my  friends,  I  should  immedi- 
ately take  a  post-chaise  and  escape  to  Valparaiso. 

"  Lopez,  with  his  usual  sagacity,  had  touched  the  chord 
that  would  make  me  yield.  First,  he  did  not  oppose  me 
arbitrarily,  because  that  will  not  answer  with  the  demented. 
Secondly,  he  disapproved  of  me,  and  that  made  an  im- 
pression. Thirdly,  he  showed  me  that  it  would  be  weak- 
ness to  soften  my  phrases,  and  he  knew  I  would  not 
consent  to  show  weakness.  Fourth,  he  pointed  out  to 
me  what  way  to  flee,  and  this  humbled  me.  No.  I  did 
not  understand  the  thing  thus ;  if  I  wounded  them  to  the 
death  I  would  stay  and  take  the  consequences. 

"  The  pillow  came  to  bring  me  its  counsels,  if  not  slum- 
ber. Very  early  the  next  day  the  minister  sent  for  me ; 
he  spoke  to  me  of  indifferent  things,  of  the  Normal 
School,  of  I  know  not  what  common  topics.  At  last  he 
circumspectly  touched  the  wound,  enforcing  himself  by 
applying  the  balsam  and  pointing  out  to  me  how  many 
persons  esteemed  me  and  treated  me  with  distinction  in 
compensation  for  these  vulgar  injuries  which  had  no  evil 
consequences.  I  replied  ;  was  very  exalted  in  my  reply, 
then  paused,  and  at  the  moment  when  I  was  about  to  lose 
all  the  respect  due  to  the  minister  and  the  friend,  the  door 
was  opened  by  Don  Miguel  de  la  Barra,  who  either  by 


352  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

accident  or  intention,  arrived  at  the  precise  moment  to 
prevent  a  scandal. 

"  Thus  that  Chili  which  I  wished  to  dress  in  state's  pris- 
on garments  (ensambenitar),  to  display  its  crimes  more 
surely  to  the  public  gaze,  showed  me  at  the  very  moment 
virtues  worthy  of  respect,  a  delicacy  and  infinite  toleration, 
and  proofs  of  sympathy  and  appreciation  which  made  the 
suicide  I  had  prepared  for  myself  wholly  unjustifiable. 
From  that  time  the  public  and  the  writer  understood  each 
other  reciprocally.  That  learnt  to  be  tolerant,  and  to  do 
justice  to  good  intentions,  and  I  habituated  myself  to  look 
at  it  as  a  necessary  part  of  my  existence,  and  neither  to 
fear  its  anger  nor  to  provoke  it.  I  am  now  unanimously 
acknowledged  to  be  a  good  and  loyal  Chilian.  But  woe  to 
him  who  persisted  in  calling  me  a.  foreigner  !  It  was  safer 
for  him  to  emigrate  to  California." 

In  1845  he  wrote  the  lives  of  the  Presbyter  Bal- 
maceda,  of  Colonel  Pereira,  of  the  Senator  Gauda- 
rillas,  of  Facundo  Quiroga  (three  editions  of  the  latter 
were  published,  and  though  proscribed  by  Rosas,  to- 
gether with  his  other  works,  was  largely  read  in  the 
Republic),  the  life  of  the  priest  Castro  y  Barros,  and 
of  General  San  Martin.  At  this  epoch  he  united  with 
the  celebrated  Garcia  del  Rivera,  in  the  editorship  of 
the  "  Museum  of  both  Americas." 

Don  Manuel  Montt  saved  Senor  Sarmiento  more 
than  once  from  rash  acts.  When  he  gave  up  the  edi- 
torship of  the  "  Progreso  "  the  first  time,  because  he 
could  not  bear  the  criticisms  upon  it,  he  said  to  him  in 
his  quiet,  commanding  way,  "  You  must  write  a  book 
upon  what  you  wish,  and  confound  them ; "  thus  restor- 
ing him  to  his  own  self-reliance.  When  he  thought  of 


EUROPEAN   TOUR.  353 

going  to  Bolivar,  under  whom  he  had  been  promised 
place,  Montt  decidedly  opposed  it;  he  told  him  it 
would  look  like  a  defeat  (for  he  had  again  resigned 
the  post  of  public  writer  to  escape  persecution) ;  he 
said  Bolivar's  cause  was  like  a  game  of  cards  —  "  and 
did  you  not  think  of  going  to  Europe  ?  "  The  Euro- 
pean expedition  was  decided  upon,  and  when  he  took 
leave  of  his  friend,  the  latter  said  to  him,  "  You  will 
return  to  your  own  country  according  to  present  ap- 
pearances ;  if  you  ever  wish  to  return  to  Chili,  you 
shall  take  any  place  you  wish.  Undeceive  yourself; 
these  enmities  which  trouble  you  are  wholly  upon  the 
surface.  No  one  despises  you,  many  esteem  you." 

"Such  a  statesman,"  to  use  the  words  of  Seiior  Sar- 
miento,  in  speaking  of  this  true  and  appreciative  friend,, 
whose  words  on  their  first  meeting  were,  "  Sir,  ideas 
are  of  no  country,"  "-can,  like  Deucalion,  make  men 
out  of  stones.  In  Europe  his  letters  followed  me  every  ^ 
where,  even  more  constantly  than  those  of  my  own 
family,  and  in  every  one  was  a  suggestion  of  some 
point  to  be  studied,  or  a  hope  that  I  should  do  such  or 
such  a  thing,  which  hope  was  a  sure  indication  that  I 
would  do  it." 

Colonel  Sanniento's  "  Travels  in  Europe,  Algiers, 
and  America,"  are  full  of  lively  pictures  of  all  that  is 
most  interesting  and  instructive  to  observe  in  other 
lands.  He  studied  not  only  education,  but  legislation, 
and  all  the  nations  he  visited  seemed  to  yield  up  to  his 
well-prepared  inspection  the  secret  of  their  being  for 
evil  or  for  good.  In  France  he  saw  and  conversed 
with  Thiers,  Guizot,  and  Humboldt,  and  was  made  a 
member  of  the  Historical  Society.  He  visited  Spain 

23 


354  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

at  the  moment  when  the  Duke  of  Montpensier  entered 
Madrid  to  marry  the  Infanta.  The  Spanish  nation 
were  averse  to  this  marriage,  and  though  they  treated 
the  Duke  with  courtesy  and  offered  him  no  insult,  it 
was  easy  to  see  their  want  of  sympathy.  The  ancient 
splendors  of  the  national  customs  were  invoked  to  cover 
this  wound  to  their  national  pride.  Royal  bull-fights, 
which  always  take  the  Spanish  people  off  their  feet, 
were  instituted  with  the  most  gorgeous  displays,  and 
the  spectacles  brought  out  all  the  Argentine  poetry  and 
the  native  brilliancy  of  our  author's  pen. 

Senor  Sarmiento's  insight  into  the  sorrows  and  evils 
of  Spain  was  undoubtedly  such  as  few  travellers  were 
prepared  to  exercise,  and  he  saw  very  plainly  that  the 
Spain  of  to-day  was  the  Spain  of  three  centuries  ago. 
More  interesting  to  him  than  all  the  remains  and  the 
momentary  resuscitation  of  ancient  splendor,  was  his 
interview  with  Cobden  in  Barcelona,  which  he  must 
describe  in  his  own  words,  for  the  impulse  it  gave  to 
his  life  and  labors  was  very  great,  giving  him  a  method 
which  he  has  since  used  with  great  effect  to  breathe 
the  breath  of  life  into  the  apathetic  children  of  the 
Spanish  colony,  that  incubus  upon  the  souls  of  men. 

COBDEN. 

"  Barcelona.  Here  I  have  had  the  felicity  of  being  pre- 
sented to  Cobden,  the  great  English  agitator,  and  I  assure 
you  that  after  Napoleon  there  is' no  man  I  so  much  wished 
to  see.  You  know  the  long  struggle  of  the  league  against 
the  corn-laws  in  England,  a  glorious  struggle  of  ratiocina- 
tion, discussion,  speech,  and  will,  which  unrooted  the  Eng- 
lish aristocracy,  sapping  at  the  base  its  power  over  the  land, 


INTERVIEW  WITH  COBDEN.  355 

which  it  possesses  by  the  right  of  primogeniture,  and  leav- 
ing it  alive,  that  it  may  bleed  to  death  by  degrees,  make 
itself  one  with  the  people,  and  yield  its  power  without  vio- 
lence when  its  weakened  hands  can  no  longer  manage  it. 
Since  the  days  of  Jesus  Christ,  this  simple  method  of  prop- 
agating a  doctrine  by  the  mere  use  of  speech,  had  not  been 
put  in  practice.  The  Catholics  who  came  after  Christ 
continued  preaching,  it  is  true,  but  from  time  to  time  they 
burned  their  opponents,  and  the  wars  of  religion  have  inun- 
dated the  earth  with  blood.  The  principles  of  liberty  had 
not  till  now  gone  forth  from  that  sad  soil,  liberty  and  the 
guillotine,  emancipation  of  the  people  and  conquest.  Cob- 
den  rehabilitated  ancient  preaching,  the  apostleship  with- 
out the  martyrdom.  Some  millions  of  pounds  sterling, 
collected  by  subscription,  supported  that  war  of  words  for 
eight  years.  Nine  million  tracts  did  those  batteries  of 
logic  and  argument  throw  out  in  1843,  alone,  and  some  two 
thousand  meetings  as  sham-fights,  and  sixteen  monster- 
meetings,  field  battles  that  threw  into  the  shade  by  the 
brilliancy  of  their  results  the  useless  ones  of  Jena,  Auster- 
litz,  and  Marengo,  ended  in  delivering  up  the  keys  of  the 
English  parliament  to  Cobden,  who  dictated  from  that 
Kremlin  to  the  aristocracy  the  capitulation  which  suffered 
it  to  remain  with  its  baggage,  ammunition,  flags,  and  posi- 
tions, provided  it  would  let  as  much  wheat  enter  England 
as  the  people  needed  for  bread.  With  Cobden  began  a 
new  era  for  the  world ;  the  word  again  made  itself  flesh, 
producing  of  itself  alone  the  greatest  effects,  and  henceforth 
when  men  wish  to  know  if  it  is  possible  to  destroy  an 
abuse  protected  by  power,  defended  by  riches,  rank,  and 
corruption,  when  they  ask  if  there  is  any  hope  of  over- 
throwing such  abuse  by  means  of  persevering  efforts  and 
sacrifices,  the  name  of  Cobden  will  be  remembered,  and 
the  wortf  will  be  undertaken. 


356  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

"You  imagine  Cobden  a  lively,  caustic  O'Connell,  an 
enthusiast,  ardent  in  politics,  rapid,  startling  in  reply? 
How  you  deceive  yourself,  my  poor  Victorino !  He  is  per- 
fectly simple,  fastidious  like  an  Englishman,  calm  as  an 
axiom,  cold,  vulgar,  if  I  may  so  express  it,  like  all  great 
truths.  We  were  friends  in  two  hours ;  we  talked  alone 
almost  all  night;  he  related  to  me  his  adventures,  his 
struggles ;  he  showed  me  his  mode  of  action,  the  strategy 
of  his  speech,  the  little  stories  with  which  it  was  necessary 
to  entertain  the  people  that  they  might  not  go  to  sleep  as 
they  listened  to  him.  He  lamented  the  almost  insupera- 
ble difficulty  which  the  masses  offer  by  their  incapacity 
of  comprehending  and  their  prejudices.  He  gave  me  a 
card  by  which  I  could  find  him  in  Manchester,  and  we  did 
not  separate  till  we  reached  the  door  of  my  hotel,  I  over- 
whelmed with  happiness,  humbled  by  such  greatness  and 
such  simplicity,  meditating  upon  means  so  noble  and  re- 
sults so  gigantic.  I  did  not  sleep  that  night.  I  was  in  a 
fever.  It  seemed  to  me  that  war  was  about  to  become 
ridiculous  when  that  system  of  aggregation  of  wills  and 
juxtaposition  of  masses  could  be  so  generalized  and  put 
into  practice  to  destroy  abuses,  governments,  laws,  and 
institutions. 

"What  more  simple  thing!  To-day  we  are  two,  to- 
morrow four,  next  year  a  thousand,  publicly  united  in  the 
same  design.  The  government  will  resist  ?  It  is  because 
we  are  not  many,  because  many  more  remain  in  favor  of 
the  abuse.  Then  let  the  preaching  come  on,  and  the 
pamphlets,  the  daily  papers,  the  association,  the  league. 
The  Government  and  the  Chambers  know  the  day  and  the 
hour  in  which  they  are  conquered,  —  and  yield !  Go  and 
plant  such  a  beautiful  system  in  America ! 

"  Cobden  had  destroyed,  or  attacked  before  commencing 
his  specific  work,  all  the  great  principles  on  which  the 


SENOR  SARMIENTO  IN  EUROPE.        357 

science  of  the  government  reposed.  The  European  equi- 
librium (balance  of  power),  declared  him  a  maniac,  thus  to 
perplex  the  ministers  by  mixing  up  foreign  affairs  with 
theirs.  The  colonies  were  the  only  means  of  furnishing 
employment  to  the  younger  sons  of  the  lords.  The  com- 
mercial balance  was  the  resume  of  ignorance  in  political 
economy,  and  politics,  with  all  its  pretensions  of  science, 
was  the  charlatanism  of  dunces  and  blackguards  ;  protec- 
tion of  natural  industry  an  innocent  means  of  stealing 
money  on  the  wing,  ruining  the  consumer,  and  turning  the 
protected  manufacturer  into  the  street.  For  all  these 
truths,  hitherto  considered  fundamental,  he  substituted  good 
sense,  the  common  sense  of  all  men,  more  fit  to  judge  than 
the  interested  science  of  lords  and  ministers." 

In  Spain,  Seiior  Sarmiento  was  made  a  member  of 
the  Literary  Society  of  Professors,  and  published  in 
Madrid  a  paper  against  the  projected  expedition  of 
General  Flores,  whose  object  it  was  to  found  a  mon- 
archy in  South  America,  of  which  the  natural  son  of 
Queen  Christina  was  to  be  the  head.  This  document 
opened  many  eyes  by  its  exhaustive  investigation  of 
the  subject.  The  expedition  was  given  up. 

In  England,  Senor  Sarmiento  found  the  English 
reprint  of  Mr.  Mann's  Report  of  his  educational  tour 
in  Europe.  He  came  to  the  United  States  after  his 
own  more  extended  one,  sought  out  Mr.  Mann,  and 
become  acquainted,  through  his  aid,  with  the  common^ 
school  system  of  Massachusetts,  which  on  his  return  to 
Chili  he  introduced  there  with  great  effect.  He  em- 
bodied his  observations  upon  education  in  Europe  and 
America  in  a  noble  work  on  "Popular  Education." 

When  in  Paris  he  had  studied  the  art  of  silk-culture 


358  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

under  the  elder  Mundo,  the  first  authority  in  the 
world,  and  on  his  return  to  Chili  he  founded  the 
"American  Silk-growing  Society,"  for  whose  use  he 
introduced  at  his  own  expense  the  best  machines  and 
other  utensils,  seeds,  and  books  known  in  Europe. 

In  1849  he  began  the  publication  of  "  La  Cronica,"  a 
periodical  which  contains  the  only  authentic  collection 
of  documents  in  South  America  upon  the  subject  of 
immigration,  a  cause  which  he  had  industriously  pro- 
moted since  1839,  when  his  attention  first  became  fixed 
upon  its  advantages.  On  each  one  of  the  topics  he 
treated,  a  law  was  proposed,  and  even  Rosas  established 
a  periodical  in  Mendoza  to  combat  it.  Rosas  could 
hardly  have  been  punished  more  effectually  for  his  ill- 
treatment  of  Senor  Sarmiento  than  he  unceasingly  was 
by  the  liberal  views  of  government  and  the  intense  activ- 
ity of  that  patriotic  gentleman.  It  was  at  this  time  that 
the  grateful  letter  he  wrote  to  his  old  friend  and  deliv- 
erer Ramirez,  grateful  for  past  services  and  confident 
of  continued  friendship,  but  which  contained  his  char- 
acterization of  Rosas,  was  shown  by  that  apostate  friend 
to  the  tyrant,  thus  perpetuating  his  banishment  indefi- 
nitely. 

In  1850  he  wrote  "  Argiropolis,  or  the  Capital  of  the 
Confederate  States,"  in  which  he  proposed  a  new  capi- 
tal instead  of  Buenos  Ayres  ;  and  the  "  Recollections 
of  a  Province." 

In  1851  he  published  the  "  South  America,"  another 
periodical,  and  his  "  Travels  ;  "  also  a  "  Memorial  of 
German  Emigration,"  which  was  reviewed  and  highly 
commended  by  Dr.  Wappaus,  professor  of  geography 
and  statistics  in  the  University  of  Gottingen. 


RESIDENCE  IN  BUENOS  AYRES.        359 
BUENOS  AYRES. 

Thus  prepared,  and  matured  by  study,  experience, 
travels  in  foreign  lands,  and  years  of  beneficent  action 
in  a  true  cosmopolitan  spirit,  he  left  Chili  in  1851  with 
the  present  President,  Colonel  Mitre,  and  the  present 
General  Paunero,  to  incorporate  himself  in  the  army 
of  General  Urquiza,  who  was  about  to  open  the  cam- 
paign against  Rosas.  The  battle  of  Caseros,  which 
disposed  of  Rosas,  took  place  on  the  third  of  February, 
1852,  and  Seiior,  now  Colonel  Sarmiento,  had  the 
pleasure  of  writing  a  description  of  it  upon  the  tyrant's 
own  table  with  the  tyrant's  own  pen.  Six  days  after, 
he  left  Urquiza's  army,  for  he  saw  that  that  old 
servant  of  Rosas  meant  no  good  to  the  country,  but 
purposed  to  make  himself  a  tyrant  in  Rosas'  place. 
Durque*  had  been  made  President,  who  fell  in  with 
Urquiza's  plans.  The  event  proved  that  his  prophecy 
was  right,  though  Urquiza  was  not  wholly  successful. 

He  left  a  note  for  Urquiza,  in  which  he  told  him  it 
was  his  profound  conviction  that  he  was  entering  upon 
a  thorny  path,  dissipating  sooner  or  later,  but  not  less 
fatally,  the  glory  which  for  a  moment  had  hung  round 
his  name. 

Colonel  Sarmiento  returned  to  Chili,  this  time  a 
voluntary  exile.  He  went  by  way  of  Rio  Janeiro, 
and  passed  a  few  weeks  in  close  intimacy  with  its 
enlightened  Emperor,  who  had  read  and  admired  his 
works  and  received  him  with  much  distinction.  The 
Emperor  had  made  an  alliance  with  the  Republic,  to 
which  he  had  formerly  been  opposed,  and  wished  to 
converse  with  Colonel  Sarmiento  upon  its  status  and 
its  prospects. 


360  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

In  October,  1852,  he  wrote  a  pamphlet  upon  San 
Juan,  its  men,  and  its  acts  in  the  regeneration  of  the 
Republic  ;  the  restoration  of  Benavides  and  the 
peoples'  conduct  towards  him.  When  elected  by  San 
Juan  Deputy  to  the  National  Congress,  which  office 
he  declined,  he  published  a  letter  to  General  Urcjuiza 
giving  his  reasons,  and  subsequently  a  pamphlet  en- 
titled "  Convention  of  Sanatuolas  de  los  Arreyos,"  in 
which  he  treats  of  the  condition  of  the  government  in 
the  Republic  and  the  reactionary  policy  of  Buenos 
Ay  res.  In  1853  he  began  to  publish  the  second  vol- 
ume of  "  The  Cronica,"  a  political  and  literary  peri- 
odical, and  also  his  "  Commentary  on  the  Constitu- 
tion of  the  Argentine  Republic,"  with  numerous 
documents  illustrative  of  the  text.  In  the  following 
year  he  published  a  letter  to  the  electors  of  Buenos 
Ayres,  who  had  chosen  him  for  their  deputy,  an  ap- 
pointment which  he  did  not  accept. 

He  finally  took  up  his  residence  in  Buenos  Ayres  as 
a  private  citizen.  In  that  year  he  was  nominated  Dep- 
uty to  Congress  from  Tucuman,  but  did  not  accept 
the  nomination  for  some  political  reasons.  In  1857  he 
solicited  and  obtained  the  direction  of  the  department 
of  schools,  and  was  also  made  Councillor  of  the  Muni- 
cipality of  Buenos  Ayres,  Durque*  being  still  President. 
The  difficulties  which  he  encountered  in  carrying  out 
his  purpose  of  introducing  the  North  American  system 
of  common  schools  into  Buenos  Ayres  as  a  starting- 
point,  are  described  in  a  very  graphic  and  lively  man- 
ner in  a  letter  to  the  Senora  Juana  Manso,  too  long  for 
insertion  here.  Three  ministries  went  out,  which 
made  the  acceptance  of  his  bill  the  sine  qua  non  of 


CHIEF  OF  DEPARTMENT  OF  SCHOOLS.  361 

their  acceptance  of  the  ministry,  but  after  waiting  and 
working  a  year  in  the  most  indefatigable  and  perse- 
vering manner,  and  allowing  himself  to  be  the  subject 
of  much  abuse,  he  succeeded  in  setting  the  matter  in 
operation,  in  the  midst  of  intestine  political  difficulties 
of  various  kinds,  invasion  by  the  Indians,  attempts  at 
usurpation,  and  capture  of  the  city  by  warlike  and 
ambitious  chiefs,  and  various  modes  of  opposition  to  his 
views.     A  resolution  had  been  offered  to  appropriate 
600  dollars  in  gold  to  set  in  motion  all  the  schools  of 
Buenos  Ayres  I     He    succeeded  at  last   in   obtaining 
$127,000,  and  erected  a  splendid  building  called  the 
Model  School,  which  was  afterwards  emulated  in  an- 
other  parish   of  the    city.      Monsieur   Banvard,   the 
architect  of  school-houses  in  France,  said  there  was  not 
in  all  France  such  architecture,  such  apparatus,  and 
such  luxury  of  appliances  consecrated  to  the   educa- 
tion of  the  people.     The  furniture  and  apparatus  were 
procured  in  the   United  States.     In   1860,  when  he 
left  Buenos  Ayres,  there  were  17,279  children  in  the 
schools.     The  Senora  Manso  had  written  him  in  1864, 
that  since  his  departure  the  number  had  decreased  by 
five  thousand.     To  this  he  replies,  that  by  the  natural 
increase  the  number  should  then  have  been  35,000, 
instead  of  12,450,  as  she  reports :  — 

"  I  assure  you,"  he  says,  "  that  the  revelation  of  so  sad  a 
fact  has  killed  me,  and  I  am  tempted  to  leave  behind  me 
useless  honors  of  position,  and  present  myself  again  to  the 
provincial  government  of  Buenos  Ayres,  saying  to  it, 
*  Give  me  the  department  of  schools  —  this  is  all  the 
future  of  the  Republic/  .  .  .  <The  United  States, 
with  their  schools  from  the  beginning,  as  a  basis,  have 


362  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

accomplished  doubtless,  in  one  century,  what  all  humanity 
has  been  doing  and  undoing  in  six  thousand  years  of 
history  !  THE  SOVEREIGN  PEOPLE  ! 

"  I  bid  you  adieu  sadly.  Write,  combat,  resist.  Agitate 
the  waves  of  a  dead  sea,  whose  surface  tends  to  become 
hardened  with  the  crust  of  impurities  which  escape  from 
its  depths,  the  Spanish  colony,  the  tradition  of  Rosas,  cows, 
cows,  cows  !  Men,  people,  nation,  republic,  future  ! 

"  They  write  me  from  San  Juan  that  on  the  twenty-fifth 
of  May,  if  not  before,  they  shall  open  the  Sarmiento  School, 
a  continuation  and  reflection  of  the  impulse  given  in  Bue- 
nos Ayres.  It  is  a  monumental  structure  which  would  be 
considered  a  good  one  in  Boston  or  New  York,  capacious 
enough  to  hold  1,700  children.  But  I  much  fear  that  it  is 
a  body  without  a  soul.  The  provinces  take  their  inspira- 
tion from  the  capitals.  When  they  throw  stones  at  the 
elections  in  Buenos  Ayres,  it  is  Ion  ton  to  stab  each  other 
in  Rosario.  When  the  attendance  of  children  in  the 
schools  diminishes  in  cultivated  Buenos  Ayres,  in  a  whole 
Buenos  Ayres,  as  they  say  in  the  provinces,  the  children  in 
the  mountains  will  be  born  dumb  so  as  not  to  learn  to 
spell." 

In  1858,  after  the  Model  School-house  was  finished 
and  opened,  and  while  enthusiasm  was  at  its  height 
about  the  schools,  Senor  Sarmiento  was  elected  Sen- 
ator of  the  State  and  Province  of  Buenos  Ayres.  He 
then  proposed  in  his  seat  that  the  lands  which  Rosas 
had  usurped,  worth  a  million  dollars,  should  be  devoted 
to  the  erection  of  school-houses  throughout  the  prov- 
ince, and  a  line  of  splendid  structures  is  now  seen 
stretching  out  into  the  pampas.  While  Senator,  he 
also  proposed  many  other  bills  which  finally  received 
the  sanction  of  law.  One  was  a  sentence  of  impeach- 


CHIEF  OF  THE  ARMY  OF  RESERVE.  363 

ment  against  Rosas.  Another  was  the  adoption  of  the 
metrical  system  of  weights  and  measures  ;  also,  a  law 
of  election  by  ballots,  like  that  of  New  York  and 
Maine,  voters  being  previously  registered.  The  adop- 
tion of  the  Commercial  Code,  which  he  brought  up 
three  successive  years  till  he  was  successful ;  a  law  to 
punish  printed  slanders  against  individuals,  and  the 
law  which  transformed  the  district  of  Chivilcoi  from 
barren  pampas  to  a  paradise  of  cultivated  farms,  were 
others. 

It  was  in  1859,  as  we  learn  from  the  "  Diario  of  the 
Sessions  of  Buenos  Ayres,  1860,"  that  General  Ur- 
quiza,  then  general-in-chief  of  the  army  of  Buenos 
Ayres,  made  another  attempt  to  usurp  the  govern- 
ment. Colonel  Sarmiento  had  been  made  chief-of- 
staff  of  the  army  of  reserve.  Urquiza  was  resisted 
at  Cepada,  where,  however,  he  gained  a  partial  vic- 
tory, the  citizens  losing  their  infantry  and  artillery. 
But  they  fled  back  to  the  city  to  defend  it,  for  em- 
boldened by  apparent  success,  Urquiza  had  dared  to 
besiege  it.  He  was  kept  at  bay,  however,  and  still 
holding  the  city  in  terror,  listened  to  proposals  for  a 
treaty  which  had  been  made  to  the  government  in 
1858  by  Colonel  Sarmiento  and  others,  ex-officially. 
These  were  for  two  conventions,  one  to  be  held  at 
Buenos  Ayres  to  make  amendments  to  the  Constitu- 
tion, and  also  a  national  convention,  at  which  said 
amendments  should  be  discussed  and  either  ratified  or 
rejected.  Urquiza  now  accepted  them  on  three  con- 
ditions. One  of  these  was  to  reincorporate  into  the 
army  all  the  soldiers  who  had  been  dismissed  from  it 
for  whatever  cause.  This  included  the  creatures  of 


364  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

Rosas ;  another  was  that  the  actual  governor,  Dr. 
Alsini,  should  be  deposed.  The  force  in  the  city  was 
sufficient  to  defend  it,  but  there  was  a  panic,  and  the 
estancieros  (landed  proprietors)  and  cattle-growers 
feared  it  would  be  lost ;  some  intriguers  were  in  the 
legislature,  and  taking  advantage  of  the  panic,  they 
wished  to  depose  the  governor  to  please  Urquiza,  whom 
they  feared. 

Colonel  Sarmiento,  who  was  still  Senator,  was  absent 
from  his  seat  at  the  moment,  visiting  one  of  the  forts. 
He  entered  the  antechamber  of  the  Senate  just  as  it 
had  sent  the  requisition  to  the  Governor  to  resign.  He 
demanded  the  floor,  but  the  President  of  the  Senate 
did  not  grant  it ;  he  persisted  in  demanding  it,  and  the 
sixth  time,  in  spite  of  much  opposition  and  exclama- 
tions, such  as,  "  we  are  all  agreed,"  he  obtained  it. 
He  then  said  that  he  did  not  propose  to  them  to  revoke 
what  they  had  done  ;  it  was  too  late  for  that,  and 
might  endanger  the  situation  in  the  presence  of  the 
enemy,  but  he  wished  his  name  to  be  recorded  as  pro- 
testing against  the  act,  which  he  designated  as  a  crime  ; 
and  he  also  proposed  that  the  assembly  that  had  de- 
stroyed the  executive  power  should  nominate  another, 
and  not  leave  them  without  a  government.  The  latter 
was  assented  to,  but  the  former  was  objected  to  as 
against  the  rules.  It  was  put  to  a  vote,  and  eight  joined 
him  in  the  protest.  When  the  votes  were  counted, 
eleven  voted  for  it,  and  that  being  a  majority,  their 
honor  was  saved,  and  the  eighth  of  November  is  ever 
remembered  as  a  nefarious  day.  In  the  afternoon  they 
saw  their  error. 

The  result  of  the  treaty  was  the  meeting  of  both 


DEBATES   OF  CONGRESS.  365 

conventions.  Colonel  Sarmiento  had  much  influence 
in  both,  and  was  largely  instrumental  in  bringing  about 
the  desired  results,  one  of  which  was  to  incorporate  the 
province  of  Buenos  Ayres  into  the  Confederacy.  He 
also  made  a  speech  in  this  Convention  of  Buenos 
Ayres,  in  opposition  to  the  proposition  to  have  a  state 
religion,  and  perfect  practical  toleration  was  declared 
to  every  form  of  opinion.  There  are  now,  thanks  to 
him,  as  many  Protestant  as  Catholic  churches.  This 
was  agreeable  to  the  instincts  of  Buenos  Ayres,  which 
had  always  manifested  a  liberal  spirit  in  this  respect. 
It  needed  only  the  word  of  a  master-spirit  to  settle  the 
question  forever.  The  speech  was  printed  at  the 
time. 

The  debates  of  this  deliberative  assembly  have  been 
published,  and  from  the  elevation  of  the  ideas  expressed 
in  them,  and  from  their  matter  as  a  model  of  parlia- 
mentary tactics,  they  bear  a  character  which  has 
gained  for  them  the  reputation  of  being  the  most 
important  documents  of  the  kind  extant.  Colonel 
Sarmiento  took  the  most  important  part  in  them.  It 
has  been  said  by  his  friends  and  biographers,  that  the 
most  able  of  his  speeches  were  made  in  secret  session. 
It  was  ever  his  aim  to  moderate  the  spirit  of  reform, 
while  he  was  the  rock  upon  which  were  shattered  the 
attempts  of  a  wavering  majority  to  resist  every  change. 
The  general  tendency  of  his  propositions  was  to  assim- 
ilate the  Argentine  Constitution  to  that  of  the  United 
States. 

Although  in  other  respects  an  innovator,  he  dreaded 
the  introduction  of  any  variation  from  the  original,  for 
fear,  as  he  said,  "  that  a  stream  of  blood  might  escape 


366  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

through  any  opening  left  in  the  machinery  of  govern- 
ment by  the  omission  of  some  wheel,  the  purpose  of 
which,  through  inexperience,  had  not  been  appreci- 
ated." This  doctrine  was  maintained  in  all  his  writ- 
ings and  speeches,  and  any  departure  from  it  in 
practice  has  been  attended  by  the  same  penalties  that 
attached  to  what  he  calls  "  French  novelties,"  current 
in  all  parts  of  South  America. 

This  debate,  marked  by  the  conflict  of  such  opposite 
parties,  ideas,  and  interests,  was  closed  with  the  procla- 
mation of  the  Union  by  Colonel  Sarmiento,  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Convention,  under  the  endeared  name  of  the 
United  Provinces  of  the  Rio  de  la  Plata.  The  measure 
was  ratified  by  acclamation,  all  members  of  the  Con- 
vention, including  the  President,  rising  to  their  feet, 
an  example  followed  by  the  throng  of  spectators, 
under  the  enthusiasm  awakened  by  this  sublime  move- 
ment of  generous  self-sacrifice.  If  it  is  borne  in  mind 
that  the  subsequent  Convention  of  Santa  Fe*  was 
divided  by  passions  even  more  highly  inflamed,  that  it 
ended  with  a  similar  scene  of  acclamation,  and  that  its 
proceedings  are  allowed  to  have  been  influenced  to  a 
still  greater  degree  by  the  counsels  of  Colonel  Sar- 
miento, it  will  certainly  be  admitted  that  his  invariable 
ardor  in  the  support  of  his  principles  must  have  been 
regulated  by  kindly  feeling  and  by  an  unusual  power 
of  carrying  a  required  point  and  exercising,  at  the  same 
time,  a  conciliatory  influence  upon  opposing  minds. 

In  the  interval  between  these  two  Conventions, 
occurred  another  scene  of  so  noble  a  character,  as  to 
compensate  for  many  others  which  have  disfigured  the 
history  of  the  same  period  by  the  hatred  and  violence 


SENATOR,  MINISTER,  CHIEF  OF  STAFF.  367 

displayed  in  them.  This  occasion  presented  the  spec- 
tacle of  the  reconciliation  of  enemies  whose  inveterate 
hostility  had  been  exercised  both  by  the  strife  of  re- 
proaches and  recriminations  in  the  press,  and  by  actual 
warfare  in  the  field.  On  the  day  of  which  we  speak, 
the  multitude  of  a  hundred  thousand  souls  assembled 
upon  the  Mole  of  Buenos  Ayres,  was  traversed  by  the 
government  carriage  containing  Generals  Urquiza  and 
Mitre,  President  Durque*,  and  Colonel  Sarmiento,  in 
his  capacity  of  minister,  to  which  place  he  had  been 
elevated,. —  these  men,  the  principal  antagonists  in  the 
long  contest  which  had  lately  ceased,  cordially  embraced 
each  other  in  the  presence  of  the  people  and  deposited 
their  former  hatred  upon  the  altar  of  the  common  in- 
terests of  their  country.  No  more  touching  or  human- 
izing scene  was  ever  witnessed  by  any  people,  nor  has 
the  reconciliation  of  political  enemies  ever  been  more 
sincere.  Yet  they  were  again  to  meet  upon  the  field 
of  battle  only  a  year  later,  impelled  by  a  current  of 
events  which  it  was  not  granted  them  to  control,  and 
by  the  errors  committed  by  each  of  the  hostile  parties. 
The  next  eight  years  after  this  victory  was  achieved 
over  apathy  and  ignorance,  and  after  General  Urquiza 
had  retired  to  Entre  Rios,  his  native  province,  were 
very  eventful  to  the  Republic,  and  the  changes  wrought 
and  the  improvements  made,  were  due  in  the  largest 
measure  to  the  energy  of  Colonel  Sarmiento.  His  va- 
rious writings  upon  education,  the  report  to  the  Chilian 
government  upon  the  results  of  his  mission  to  Europe 
and  North  America,  his  reports  upon  the  state  of  pub- 
lic instruction  in  Buenos  Ayres,  the  educational  census 
taken  in  Chili,  San  Juan,  and  Buenos  Ayres,  his  able 


368  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

work  on  popular  education,  and  a  series  of  occasional 
pamphlets  upon  similar  topics,  were  but  the  heralds  of 
deeds  in  which  the  spirit  was  to  be  embodied.  While 
holding  in  succession  the  offices  of  senator,  minister, 
and  chief  of  staff,  he  founded  and  edited  the  "  Annals 
of  Education,"  with  the  object  of  disseminating  in- 
formation and  exciting  interest  in  his  measures  for  the 
education  of  the  people.  He  induced  some  of  the 
best  men  in  the  city  to  take  the  personal  supervision  of 
the  schools,  and  he  regarded  as  his  most  important 
work,  great  as  was  his  reputation  as  a  writer,  his 
"  Progressive  Method  of  Reading,"  which  the  govern- 
ment had  stereotyped  with  vignettes  in  the  United 
States.  In  Tucuman,  Salta,  and  La  Rioja,  the  symbol 
of  a  crossed  pen  and  sword  is  employed  in  memory  of 
him. 

But  his  influence  and  his  activity  were  by  no 
means  confined  to  educational  labors,  unless  his  prac- 
tical illustrations  of  beneficent  legislation  may  be 
looked  upon  as  the  highest  branch  of  it.  The  tendency 
of  the  public  administration  bore  the  marks  of  his 
ripe  age,  and  of  the  official  training  he  had  undergone 
in  Chili  in  the  service  of  a  government  accused  of 
erring  on  the  side  of  an  excessive  exercise  of  its 
authority  by  the  people  of  countries  which  are  ever 
wavering  between  the  Scylla  of  despotism  and  the 
Chary bdis  of  anarchy.  He  somewhere  quotes  Mr. 
Webster's  speech  before  the  Supreme  Court  of  Rhode 
Island,  in  the  case  of  Dorr,  condemned  to  perpetual 
imprisonment  for  his  share  in  the  insurrection  of  Rhode 
Island.  Mr.  Webster  says,  — 


POLITICAL  INFLUENCE.  369 

"  Is  it  not  obvious  enough,  that  men  cannot  get  together 
and  count  themselves,  and  say  they  are  so  many  hundreds 
and  so  many  thousands,  and  judge  of  their  own  qualifica- 
tions, and  call  themselves  the  people,  and  set  up  a  govern- 
ment ?  Why,  another  set  of  men,  forty  miles  off  on  the 
same  day,  with  the  same  propriety,  with  as  good  qualifica- 
tions, and  in  as  large  numbers,  may  meet  and  set  up  an- 
other government ;  one  may  meet  at  Newport  and  another 
at  Chepachet,  and  both  may  call  themselves  the  people. 
What  is  this  but  anarchy  ?  What  liberty  is  there  here  but 
a  tumultuary,  tempestuous,  violent,  stormy  liberty,  a  sort 
of  South  American  liberty,  without  power  except  in  its 
spasms,  a  liberty  supported  by  arms  to-day,  cnished  by 
arms  to-morrow  ?  Is  that  our  liberty  ?  " 

And  holding  up  these  forcible  words  Colonel  Sar- 
miento  adds,— * 

"  If  the  liberal  party  in  South  America  which  has  been 
overthrown  by  more  than  one  tyrant,  beholds  itself  in  this 
terrible  mirror,  will  it  not  turn  away  its  face  from  the  un- 
sightly image  ?  " 

Both  in  Chili  and  in  Buenos  Ayres,  Colonel  Sar- 
miento  has  been  noted,  even  by  his  adversaries,  for  his 
inclination  to  limit  the  injurious  extension  attempted 
to  be  given  to  the  rights  of  the  people.  On  his  first 
appearance  in  the  Chilian  press,  when  he  had  it  in  his 
power  to  choose  between  the  political  parties  of  the 
country,  both  of  which  solicited  his  support,  he  decided 
in  favor  of  that  which  proposed,  while  applying  liberal 
ideas  to  public  action,  to  aim  at  the  stability  of  the 
power  which  was  to  represent  them.  Twenty  years 
have  since  elapsed,  and  no  tyrant  has  appeared  in 

24 


370  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

Chili,  although  the  doings  of  the  government  have  not 
always  been  justifiable. 

He  followed  the  same  course  in  the  Argentine  Re- 
public. On  the  one  hand  he  opposed  the  mutilated 
confederation  that  excluded  Buenos  Ayres,  which  was 
but  a  disguise  for  the  old  method  of  arbitrary  rule  by 
partisan  leaders,  and  on  the  other  he  inclined  to  the 
incorporation  of  this  estate,  although  the  people  were 
yet  unfamiliar  with  the  use  of  the  liberties  it  had 
gained. 

His  influence  in  the  city  became  in  innumerable 
ways  very  conspicuous.  When  he  entered  upon  his 
duties  as  Senator,  the  galleries,  which  had  been  accus- 
tomed to  control  the  debates  by  hisses  and  applauses,  de- 
signed to  produce  disturbance,  and  disorderly  conduct, 
covered  the  amphitheatre  with  pasquinades  against  the 
new  Senator.  Three  years  later,  the  same  area  was  the 
scene  of  the  heated  debates  of  the  Provincial  Conven- 
tion, assembled  to  propose  reforms  in  the  Federal  Con- 
stitution, —  those  remarkable  debates  already  alluded 
to.  The  reader  will  look  in  vain  for  an  instance  of 
applause,  still  less  of  disorder,  on  the  part  of  the  listen- 
ers to  these  speeches,  the  excitement  attending^  which 
was  confined  to  the  Convention  itself.  The  eager  mul- 
titude of  spectators  held  their  breath  to  listen  to  the 
debate  ;  and  the  fifty  members  of  the  Convention,  ani- 
mated as  were  their  contests  with  each  other,  were 
treated  with  a  religious  respect  which  made  them  seem 
true  Patres  Conscripti.  To  what  was  this  change 
due?  Simply  to  the  influence  of  one  man,  who  through 
the  press,  by  spoken  discourses,  and  by  legal  measures, 
had  taught  the  persons  who  were  present  at  the  ses- 


THE  WEIGHT   OF  HIS  VOICE.  371 

sions  of  the  legislature  that  they  were  not  the  people, 
and  that  it  was  ruinous  to  the  Republic  for  them  to 
taint  the  atmosphere  of  absolute  liberty,  which  the 
representative  of  the  people  should  breathe,  by  express- 
ing their  own  crude  opinions  in  the  sanctuary  of  the 
law.  On  the  withdrawal  of  that  salutary  and  restrain- 
ing influence,  it  is  reported  that  Buenos  Ayres  became 
again  the  theatre  of  that  tumultuous  and  stormy  liberty 
of  which  Webster  spoke,  and  which  gives  other  nations 
such  cause  for  scandal.  It  was  the  same  spirit  which 
impelled  him  on  more  than  half  a  dozen  occasions,  to 
maintain  from  his  place  in  the  Senate  the  rights  of  the 
executive  authority  against  the  encroachments  of  the 
legislature  ;  and  to  one  governor,  who  had  summoned 
to  his  audience-chamber  the  leaders  of  various  factions, 
in  order  to  advise  with  them  upon  the  nomination  of  a 
minister,  he  said,  as  appears  from  subsequent  speeches 
in  the  Senate,  the  following  prophetic  words:  "In  less 
than  a  year  we  shall  have  to  go  and  pick  up  from  the 
rubbish  of  the  streets  the  fragments  of  the  executive 
power  which  our  governors  are  throwing  away,  one 
after  the  other,  for  want  of  courage  enough  to  perform 
their  duties." 

A  year  had  not  elapsed,  when,  in  the  presence  of 
the  enemy,  on  November  8,  1859,  tkis  same  governor 
was  deposed  by  the  coalition  in  the  legislature  already 
described,  which  was  led  astray  by  the  fear  of  some, 
the  ill-will  of  others,  and  perhaps  the  treason  of  a  very 
small  number. 

While  member  of  a  senatorial  commission,  Colonel 
Sarmiento  proposed  a  new  law  for  the  regulation  of 
elections,  designed  to  cure  the  constantly  recurring 


372  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

defects  of  the  one  then  in  operation,  as  well  as  to  close 
the  door  against  the  shameless  frauds,  and  to  punish 
the  violence  prevalent  at  the  elections  of  Buenos 
Ayres,  by  furnishing  definitions  of  these  illegal  actions. 
Buenos  Ayres  would  have  spared  itself  many  days  of 
disgrace  and  disturbance  by  the  prompt  passage  of  this 
law,  which  was  agreed  to  by  the  Senate,  but  owing  to 
its  very  perfection,  was  indefinitely  postponed  in  the 
House  of  Representatives,  an  evidence  of  oversight  in 
not  making  the  legal  use  of  rights  the  basis  of  liberty, 
which  that  body  had  afterwards  reason  to  deplore. 

In  every  form  this  far-seeing  patriot  had  warred 
against  the  nomadic  life  of  the  cattle-grower,  which 
was  an  insurmountable  barrier  to  the  improvement  of 
the  rural  districts.  After  two  years'  discussion  he  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  permission  from  the  government  to 
survey  and  lay  out  in  small  farms,  in  the  North  Ameri- 
can mode,  an  extensive  tract  which  was  in  possession  of 
squatters,  and  these  farms  he  sold  cheaply,  in  part  to 
the  squatters  themselves,  and  in  part  to  emigrants  from 
other  lands.  He  personally  superintended  laying  out 
the  squares  with  broad  streets,  and  planting  them 
with  trees,  which  grow  as  if  by  magic  on  the  rich 
pampa  lands  whose  native  growth  is  only  rich  grass, 
that  feeds  countless  herds  of  cattle  without  any  labor 
to  the  owners.  This  survey  was  made  in  Chivilcoi  in 
1858,  and  last  year,  a  railroad  was  completed  to  it 
from  Buenos  Ayres.  On  the  occasion  of  opening  the 
station,  many  persons  accompanied  the  Governor  to 
witness  the  ceremony,  and  all  were  amazed  beyond 
expression  to  see  the  spectacle.  It  was  a  Chicago  in 
the  desert,  as  Colonel  Sarmiento  has  expressed  it.  For 


CHIVILCOI.  373 

the  first  time  within  the  life  of  one  man,  was  a  region 
in  South  America  so  transformed.  It  contained  a 
church  which  Colonel  Sarmiento  had  dedicated,  a  beau- 
tiful public  school-house,  for  the  front  of  which  he  had 
induced  a  native  artist  to  carve  a  marble  group  of 
Christ  blessing  the  children,  and  which  was  raised  to 
its  place  on  the  same  festival,  with  an  eloquent  address; 
a  bank  of  discount ;  various  private  schools,  and  a  fine 
railroad  station.  Where  the  industrial  movement  is 
most  conspicuous,  at  this  railroad  station,  the  only 
square  called  for  a  living  man  bears  the  name  of  Sar- 
miento. The  25th  of  May  (the  anniversary  of  their 
successful  battle  against  Spanish  rule),  the  9th  of  July 
(their  independence  day),  Washington,  and  Lincoln ; 
Moreno  and  Belgrave  (generals  of  the  war  of  inde- 
pendence) ;  Florencio  Varela,  the  first  martyr  assassi- 
nated by  Rosas,  and  Echevarria,  the  poet,  give  names 
to  the  other  squares. 

At  the  three  days'  banquet  of  the  festival,  the  name 
of  Sarmiento  was  toasted  from  one  end  of  the  long 
tables  to  the  other,  by  the  representatives  of  every 
public  interest,  each  of  which  he  had  fostered ;  and 
subsequently  thousands  poured  out  to  see  with  their 
own  eyes  how  a  little  enterprise  could  make  the  desert 
blossom  as  the  rose.  In  a  land  where  cows  were  the 
chief  object  of  interest,  milk  could  not  be  supplied  for 
the  cities  or  even  for  the  country,  and  the  art  of  butter- 
making  was  lost !  To  this  day  it  is  imported,  and  is 
one  of  the  most  expensive  articles  of  luxury.  Cereals 
and  vegetables  are  now  brought  to  Buenos  Ayres  from 
Chivilcoi,  as  well  as  from  the  Isles  of  the  Parana,  a 
South  American  Venice,  which  by  Colonel  Sarmiento's 


374  BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCH. 

means  have  been  redeemed  from  the  waters  and  made 
the  source  of  millions  of  revenue  to  the  owners. 

Thirty-nine  individuals  possessed  the  lands  of  Chi- 
vilcoi  in  1858  ;  now  twenty  thousand  happy,  prosperous 
farming  people  occupy  the  country,  and  enjoy  all  the 
conveniences  of  civilized  life.  There  are  no  immense 
fortunes  made,  but  great  riches  are  distributed  to  all, 
and  are  increasing  rapidly  and  wonderfully. 

The  cultivation  of  the  Isles  of  the  Parana,  another 
enterprise  of  our  author,  resulted  as  brilliantly  as  the 
surveying  of  land  in  Chivilcoi.  He  often  escaped  from 
the  burning  debates  of  the  Chambers,  the  press,  and  the 
schools,  to  the  enchanting  region  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Parana,  which  is  a  delta  of  thirty  miles  by  twenty,  of 
islands,  of  a  fertility  unexampled  perhaps  in  the  world. 
In  sailing  up  those  channels  bordered  with  the  most 
luxuriant  natural  vegetation,  he  saw  with  the  eye  of  a 
San  Juan  agriculturist,  that  if  redeemed  from  the  wa- 
ters, they  might  become  a  source  of  immense  wealth 
to  the  province.  It  did  not  take  long  for  a  brilliant 
thought  to  come  to  a  white  heat  in  his  mind,  and  se- 
curing to  himself  from  government  the  right  to  take 
possession  of  them,  he  seized  his  most  romantic  pen, 
and  began  to  kindle  the  public  with  descriptions  of 
their  beauty,  and  of  their  immense  agricultural  future, 
if  they  could  be  cultivated  judiciously  —  already  a  rural 
Venice  whose  canals  Nature  had  supplied.  By  hun- 
dreds people  put  their  hands  to  the  work  of  clearing 
the  rubbish,  planting  trees  on  the  borders  of  the  chan- 
nels, etc.  Dr.  Francia,  the  tyrant  of  Paraguay,  spent 
four  hundred  thousand  francs  in  the  enterprise.  Not 
only  Colonel  Sarmiento,  but  all  the  persons  interested, 


ISLES  OF  THE  PARANA.  375 

lived  in  a  state  of  ecstasy,  navigating  their  boats  from 
island  to  island,  enjoying  the  primitive  and  unsurpassed 
scenery,  and  scattering  seed  on  the  earth  just  snatched 
from  the  dominion  of  the  waters.  They  had  what  he 
describes  as  a  "  frantic  vegetation,"  for  the  territory 
was  inundated  every  fifteen  days,  though  only  for  a 
few  hours  at  a  time,  so  that  everything  that  was  planted 
was  choked  by  the  natural  grasses,  stimulated  by  the 
cultivation  to  unwonted  growth.  The  result  to  those 
engaged  in  the  undertaking  was  utter  ruin  at  the  end 
of  two  years.  But  at  the  end  of  five  years,  the  aspect 
of  the  canals  was  one  of  magical  beauty;  they  were 
planted  with  poplar-trees  for  leagues  and  leagues,  and 
barques  of  all  descriptions  were  navigating  them,  re- 
ceiving the  showers  of  peaches  that  fell  from  the  trees 
for  miles  together.  Finding  the  spot  so  humid,  he  con- 
summated his  labors  by  sending  a  courier  to  Chili  for 
a  species  of  osier  for  basket-making,  and  presented  a 
twig  to  every  planter.  Now,  millions  of  money  are 
made  by  it,  and  they  have  cause  to  remember  the  speech 
which  he  made  on  the  occasion,  prophesying  the  riches 
that  would  accrue  from  this  development  of  their  in- 
dustry, but  which  was  then  made  the  subject  of  ridi- 
cule. There  is  perhaps  no  place  in  the  world  so  pic- 
turesque or  of  such  dreamlike  beauty  as  these  channels 
bordered  with  trees.  They  are  the  delight  of  all  the 
dwellers  upon  the  River  La  Plata. 

After  immense  opposition,  Colonel  Sarmiento  suc- 
ceeded in  carrying  a  railroad  from  San  Fernando,  on 
the  mainland  opposite  the  islands,  to  Buenos  Ayres, 
by  which  fruits,  vegetables,  and  timber,  are  transported 
to  its  markets.  As  a  reward  for  his  labors,  he  enjoys 


376  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

the  life-right  of  a  perpetual  seat  in  the  railroad  trains, 
while  thousands  are  enriching  themselves  with  the 
fruits  of  his  enterprise. 

One  disgraceful  feature  of  the  recent  mutilated 
Confederation  was  the  perpetuation  in  the  provinces  of 
the  rule  of  irresponsible  and  irremovable  chieftains. 
Benavides,  for  sixteen  years  a  supporter  of  Rosas,  went 
on  as  a  supporter  of  Urquiza,  after  the  fight  of  Caseros. 
To  suppress  insurrections  among  the  people,  Urquiza 
had  to  interfere  by  force  in  1852,  not  to  secure  to  San 
Juan  "  a  republican  form  of  government "  in  accord- 
ance with  the  Federal  constitution,  but  violently  to 
impose  upon  it  the  rule  of  its  old  master.  In  1857  he 
made  an  unsuccessful  attempt  to  reestablish  him  again ; 
and  he  interfered  in  1858  to  punish  the  community  for 
the  death  of  Benavides,  who  had  been  taken  prisoner, 
and  had  lost  his  life  in  an  affray  occasioned  by  an 
attempt  to  rescue  him. 

Instead  of  avoiding  direct  conflict  with  this  obstinate 
resistance,  the  national  government,  which  Urquiza 
actually  controlled,  sent  a  governor  to  San  Juan,  who 
had  been  previously  known  only  by  his  violent  conduct 
and  his  vices,  to  serve  as  a  sort  of  executioner.  The 
result  which  might  have  been  expected,  soon  followed 
in  a  terrible  outbreak,  during  which  the  band  of  out- 
siders sent  to  torment  the  people  perished  at  their 
hands. 

Colonel  Sarmiento,  then  Minister  of  State  at  Buenos 
Ayres,  was  informed  of  the  first  symptoms  of  this  out- 
break by  a  message  sent  him  by  his  friend,  th'e  irre- 
proachable and  venerable  Dr.  Aberastain,  and  he 
availed  himself  of  the  information  to  urge  with  earnest- 


THE  OLD  CONFLICT.  377 

ness  upon  the  President  and  upon  General  Urquiza  the 
importance  of  saving  the  Republic  from  a  day  of  mourn- 
ing, by  removing  Virasoro,  their  recent  gubernatorial 
appointee. 

On  the  16th  of  November,  they  published  a  joint 
letter,  signed  also  by  the  Governor  of  Buenos  Ayres, 
which  at  last  gained  what  had  been  so  anxiously  so- 
licited ;  but  on  the  very  day  that  President  Durque*  re- 
voked the  appointment,  Virasoro  fell  in  a  frightful  con- 
flict with  the  rebellious  people. 

A  commission  was  despatched  to  San  Juan,  for  the 
purpose  of  pacifying  the  disturbance,  but  while  on  its 
way,  the  old  hostility  of  faction  poisoned  the  minds  of 
its  members,  and  under  the  influence  of  General  Ur- 
quiza, then  living  apart  on  his  own  estates,  who  tam- 
pered with  the  forces  that  passed  by  his  residence,  it 
became  the  instrument  of  a  bloody  revenge.  Among 
other  victims,  Dr.  Aberastain,  who  had  been  made 
governor  after  the  fall  of  Virasoro,  was  cruelly  and 
uselessly  sacrificed  in  a  horrible  massacre,  among  hun- 
dreds of  other  victims,  by  that  very  Saa,  who  within  a 
year  has  again  headed  an  insurrection  in  the  western 
provinces. 

Everything  was  again  thrown  into  confusion,  and  on 
the  receipt  of  the  news,  Colonel  Sarmiento  withdrew 
from  the  ministry,  as  his  continuance  in  office  would 
have  misled  the  public  as  to  the  nature  of  the  resolu- 
tions forced  upon  the  government  of  Buenos  Ayres,  for 
circumstances  made  it  seem  the  personal  interest  of  the 
minister  that  this  war  should  be  made,  while  in  fact 
the  contest  which  he  fain  would  have  averted,  had 
already  become  inevitable.  At  this  time  he  also  re- 


378  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

fused  the  embassy  to  the  United  States,  because  he 
would  not  receive  from  the  hands  of  the  President  the 
bribe  of  $14,000  with  which  he  tempted  him  to  with- 
draw his  resignation. 

The  battle  of  Favon  terminated  these  unhappy  con- 
sequences of  an  evil  which  a  conciliatory  policy  had 
failed  to  subdue.  Urquiza  was  routed,  the  national 
government  was  dissolved,  and  as  it  was  expedient  for 
an  army  to  be  sent  into  the  interior,  to  secure  and  in- 
crease the  results  of  the  victory,  Colonel  Sarmiento  was 
made  commander-in-chief  and  official  representative  of 
the  political  views  of  his  party.  A  pamphlet  written 
by  him  describes  this  campaign,  which  began  with  the 
rout  of  a  force  entrenched  behind  the  Carcarana. 

In  pursuance  of  the  operations  of  the  war,  and  hav- 
ing captured  two  pieces  of  artillery  from  San  Juan  at 
San  Luis,  he  was  the  first  to  reach  the  city  of  Mendoza, 
on  January  1,  1862,  attended  by  the  victorious  troops 
of  Buenos  Ayres.  Proceeding  at  once  to  San  Juan, 
he  met  with  the  reception  to  be  looked  for  from  the 
people  of  his  birthplace  upon  their  release  from  so 
long  a  series  of  disasters  endured  in  behalf  of  a  cause 
whose  triumph  had  demanded  a  sacrifice  of  which 
they  were  the  victims,  as  well  as  the  generous  sympa- 
thy thus  awakened  in  Buenos  Ayres ;  for  it  is  posi- 
tively known  that  it  was  the  odium  of  the  San  Juan 
massacres  that  solved  the  difficulties  previously  insu- 
perable either  by  political  combinations,  treaties,  or 
battles.  On  January  11,  he  celebrated,  as  governor 
of  the  province,  an  office  to  which  the  general  voice 
had  called  him,  the  obsequies  of  the  illustrious  men 
who  had  fallen  in  those  massacres,  and  thenceforward 


SARMIENTO  SCHOOL.  379 

zealously  availed  himself  of  the  means  just  placed  in 
his  hands  to  abate  the  evil  effects  of  so  many  years  of 
confusion. 

The  many  years  he  had  spent  in  connection  with  the 
Chilian  administration,  at  that  time  farther  advanced 
in  the  path  of  progress  than  any  other  to  be  found  in 
South  America,  his  many  travels,  his  steady  devotion 
to  public  life,  all  made  him  worthy  of  a  wider  field  of 
usefulness  than  that  afforded  by  an  interior  province. 
But  the  moral  importance  of  a  community  which  had 
undergone  such  trials,  and  the  liberal  instincts  it  had 
always  shown,  were  enough  to  make  amends  for  its 
scanty  population  in  lending  importance  to  his  labors. 
An  era  of  tranquillity  in  the  interior  followed  the  storms 
of  the  past,  while  new  sources  of  disturbance  made 
their  appearance  in  the  capital. 

He  availed  himself  rather  of  the  deference  with 
which  he  was  regarded,  than  of  his  official  power,  to 
render  acceptable  various  reforms  in  administration 
and  in  the  collection  of  revenue,  setting  on  foot,  also, 
some  public  works,  while  the  people,  but  for  him, 
would  have  been  disinclined  to  any  changes.  A 
Topographical  Department,  entrusted  to  European 
engineers,  was  employed  in  the  work  of  mapping  and 
surveying  the  country,  a  work  required  by  a  method 
of  agriculture  dependent  on  canals  for  irrigation.  The 
map  of  the  province  has  since  been  lithographed. 

Public  education,  as  was  to  be  expected,  received  a 
great  impulse,  in  the  foundation  of  a  college  for  ad- 
vanced studies,  the  nucleus  of  a  future  university ;  a 
high  school  for  children  of  each  sex,  and  primary 
schools  in  each  ward,  parish,  or  department.  Upon  the 


380  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

foundation^  of  an  abandoned  church  in  the  city,  the 
building  devoted  to  educational  purposes  was  at  once 
begun,  of  which  former  mention  was  made.  The  fol- 
lowing public  enterprises  also  deserve  notice :  a  normal 
farm,  for  the  promotion  and  improvement  of  agricultur- 
al art ;  a  large  cemetery  which  was  urgently  required 
by  public  decency,  the  old  one  being  overcrowded ;  a 
public  promenade,  shaded  by  groups  of  trees,  with  iron 
benches  beneath  them ;  numerous  repairs  of  existing 
structures  ;  the  paving  of  two  leagues  of  streets ;  the 
construction  of  bridges  of  quarried  marble  over  the 
canals,  etc.  ;  and  the  opening  of  straight  roads  thirty 
yards  wide  between  the  departments,  to  facilitate  the 
wagon  traffic. 

He  endeavored  to  bring  back  the  refinements  of 
cultivated  society  to  a  province  so  remote  and  which 
had  been  so  exposed  to  conditions  detrimental  to  prog- 
ress, by  the  observance  of  public  ceremonies  and  fes- 
tivities on  such  occasions  as  the  laying  of  corner-stones 
of  new  buildings,  at  the  opening  of  various  new  works, 
and  by  military  parades,  all  photographed  at  the  time, 
in  all  of  which  were  employed  the  forms,  ornaments, 
and  symbols  used  for  such  purposes  by  all  civilized 
nations.  The  halcyon  days  of  his  short  rule  must 
have  seemed  after  their  late  misfortunes  like  a  dream 
of  the  night. 

In  his  first  addresses  to  the  provincial  legislature,  he 
proposed  the  development  of  the  mining  interest ;  for 
San  Juan,  an  oasis  in  the  desert  of  the  Travesias,  as 
the  barren  region  around  the  province  is  called,  is  full 
of  mining  wealth.  Three  years  had  passed  in  fruitless 
endeavors  to  extract  the  silver  which  showed  itself  in 
numerous  localities  throughout  the  province. 


MINING  INTERESTS.  381 

Mr.  Rickard  was  sent  for  from  Chili,  and,  after  an 
examination  of  the  principal  mining  districts,  he  made 
a  report  of  them  favorable  enough  to  encourage  the 
formation  of  a  mining  company,  with  a  capital  of  a 
hundred  thousand  dollars  in  gold ;  and  when  the  stock 
was  subscribed  for,  he  went  to  England  for  materials, 
machinery,  and  workmen,  stopping  at  Buenos  Ayres 
to  obtain  more  subscriptions  and  assistance  from  the 
government.  No  more  fortunate  choice  of  an  agent 
could  have  been  made.  Mr.  Rickard  not  only  fulfilled 
all  the  objects  of  his  expedition,  but  enlisted  English 
capital  in  the  enterprise,  by  publishing  his  "  Mining 
Journey  across  the  Andes,"  which  made  the  public 
familiar  with  the  name  of  the  new  mining  district  and 
other  public  works  (trabajos  publicos).  A  Review  was 
established  at  the  same  time  to  keep  the  public  in- 
formed of  the  results  of  the  undertaking. 

If  the  richness  and  permanence  of  these  mines,  and 
the  skillful  method  of  working  them  which  have  been 
adopted,  answer  the  well-grounded  hopes  which  have 
been  formed  of  them,  it  is  supposed  that  their  shares 
will  soon  be  quoted  at  the  London  Exchange,  and  the 
"  Mining  Journal  "  will  inform  the  world  of  their  pro- 
ducts. Facing  the  central  chain  of  the  Andes,  five 
thousand  feet  above  the  sea-level,  in  the  beautiful  and 
cultivated  valley  of  Colingasta,  enhancing  the  grandeur 
of  one  of  the  most  superb  views  among  the  mountains, 
arise  the  columns  of  smoke  emitted  from  the  lofty 
chimney  of  the  Smelting  and  Amalgamating  Works 
of  the  San  Juan  Mining  Company,  situated  near  the 
mines  of  Fontal  and  of  Castano,  which  are  connected 
with  the  plain  by  a  cart-road,  and  offer  an  inexhaus- 


382  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

tible  stock  of  metallic  wealth  to  English  capital  and 
metallurgical  science.  Mr.  Rickard  has  bought  up  all 
the  stock  in  order  to  extend  the  enterprise  by  the 
introduction  of  more  capital. 

It  will  soon  be  known  whether  these  mineral  dis- 
tricts, with  their  thousands  of  argentiferous  veins,  can 
rival  the  mines  of  Mexico  or  Potosi  in  richness  and 
productiveness. 

But  all  this  fair  promise  of  peace  and  progress  was 
disturbed  and  saddened  from  the  outset  by  the  incur- 
sions of  banditti  which  distracted  the  neighboring 
provinces,  and  were  carried  even  to  the  gates  of  San 
Juan,  which  thus  found  itself  threatened  with  ruin 
while  it  was  intent  upon  paving  its  streets  and  making 
bridges  and  roads.  On  January  1,  1863,  a  letter 
conveying  the  compliments  of  the  season  was  sent  to 
the  Governor  of  San  Juan  by  one  of  the  ministers  of 
the  general  government,  containing  the  expression, 
"  We  are  sailing  over  a  sea  of  flowers."  Another  min- 
ister stated  on  March  22,  "  We  have  never  enjoyed 
a  period  of  greater  good  fortune  ;  at  peace,  as  we  are, 
with  all  the  world,  and  on  friendly  terms  with  Urquiza 
and  El  Chacho."  These  dreams  of  a  government 

D 

which,  owing  to  its  location  at  one  extremity  and  in 
the  most  civilized  part  of  the  Republic,  had  fallen  into 
a  false  security,  were  dispelled  by  the  fight  of  La 
Punta  del  Agua,  which  happened  ten  days  later,  on 
the  2d  of  April.  On  this  occasion,  no  political  pre- 
text was  assigned  for  their  plundering  inroads  by  the 
troops  of  horsemen  coming  from  the  open  country  of 
La  Rioja,  San  Luis,  and  Cprdova,  and  headed  by  El 
Chacho,  a  leader  who  had  been  used  to  making  war  on 


THE  CAPTURE  OF  EL  CHACHO.        383 

the  towns  with  impunity  under  all  the  successive  gov- 
ernments, for  thirty  years  past.  The  national  govern- 
ment entrusted  to  the  Governor  of  San  Juan  the 
suppression  of  these  disturbances,  assigning  to  the  duty 
the  National  Guard  of  San  Juan  and  Mendoza,  a  battal- 
ion of  regulars,  and  the  First  Regiment  of  the  Line, 
commanded  by  Colonel  Sanders,  who  was  famous  for 
having  received  up  to  that  time  fifty-one  wounds  from 
knife,  bullet,  lance,  rapier,  and  sword. 

Governor  Sarmiento  received  his  appointment  to 
the  direction  of  these  military  operations  on  the  8th  of 
April.  He  had  been  informed  on  the  6th  of  an  inva- 
sion of  Mendoza  by  adventurers  crossing  from  Chili  in 
his  rear.  This  intelligence,  and  the  outbreak  of  insur- 
rection in  all  directions,  made  the  instructions  he  had 
received  useless  and  inapplicable,  and  forced  him  to 
rely  upon  the  inspiration  of  the  moment,  and  to  act  as 
the  facts  of  the  case  required. 

Seventeen  military  expeditions  were  successively 
despatched  from  San  Juan,  towards  the  south,  east, 
and  north.  The  conflict  of  April  2  in  San  Luis  was 
followed  by  several  others :  one  in  Mendoza,  April  13  ; 
one  in  La  Rioja,  May  21  ;  one  in  the  Playas  de  Cor- 
dova, June  29 ;  one  in  the  Chanar,  between  the  last- 
named  provinces,  July  8  ;  one  in  the  Bajo  Hondo, 
between  San  Juan  and  La  Rioja,  August  14,  and  a 
final  and  decisive  engagement  at  Causete,  near  the 
gate  of  the  city  of  San  Juan,  on  October  29.  The 
Argentine  montonera,  although  everywhere  beaten, 
continually  reappeared,  unexpectedly  threatening  the 
place  they  supposed  to  be  weakest,  and  mocking  the 
vigilance  of  the  armies  in  pursuit  of  them. 


384  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

Eight  hours  after  his  entrance  into  the  rural  depart- 
ments of  San  Juan,  El  Chacho  had  been  routed  and 
was  in  flight  towards  the  desert,  trusting  to  that  and  to 
the  speed  of  his  horses  for  his  safety  ;  but  this  time  he 
failed  to  find  in  it  the  security  which  had  enabled  him 
to  laugh  at  the  pursuit  of  regular  troops  for  thirty 
years.  The  author  of  "  Civilization  and  Barbarism," 
who  has  given  us  so  lively  a  description  of  the  warfare 
of  the  pampas,  had,  in  this  instance,  departed  from  his 
ordinary  course,  and  pursued  the  brigand  with  such 
energy  as  to  surprise  him  in  his  last  fastness,  where  he 
was  seized  and  executed. 

The  want  of  space  forbids  the  insertion  of  the  story 
of  his  capture,  which  did  credit  to  the  skill  and  military 
tactics  of  the  commander. 

While  governor  of  San  Juan,  upon  the  invasion  of 
the  province,  he  twice  placed  it  in  a  state  of  siege 
under  a  proclamation  of  martial  law.  This  course  was 
unjustly  and  imprudently  disapproved  by  the  national 
government,  and  singular  to  relate,  the  two  persons 
suspected  of  dealings  with  the  insurgents,  who  were 
released  from  imprisonment  by  the  national  authorities, 
met  the  melancholy  fate  of  obscure  deaths  in  inglorious 
combats  such  as  too  often  occur  in  those  unhappy 
countries,  —  domestic  broils  involving  whole  hecatombs 
of  lives. 

Upon  the  capture,  arms  in  hand,  of  Clavero,  one  of 
the  ringleaders  of  the  insurrection  of  Mendoza,  a  place 
subjected  by  the  President  himself  to  the  control  of 
Governor  Sarmiento,  commander-in-chief,  he  was 
tried  before  a  council  of  war  and  condemned  to  death. 
The  sentence,  according  to  rule,  was  referred  to  the 


DIPLOMATIC  MISSIONS.  385 

commander-in-chief.  Governor  Sarmiento  felt  con- 
vinced that  he  judged  aright  in  sanctioning  it,  but  the 
national  government,  ignorant  till  long  after  of  the 
actual  occurrences  connected  with  this  series  of  ope- 
rations, failed  to  do  justice  to  the  director  of  this  com- 
plicated and  obstinate  warfare,  until  information  was 
received  of  the  decisive  affair  at  Cause te.  Clavero 
was  set  at  liberty.  At  this  day,  government  sees  its 
mistake.  In  speaking  of  this  transaction,  Colonel 
Sarmiento  again  quotes  Webster  in  his  able  speech 
about  martial  law  and  its  occasional  necessity,  and  in 
his  u  Life  of  Abraham  Lincoln,"  dwells  with  much 
force  upon  that  statesman's  action  in  circumstances  not 
wholly  unlike  those  in  which  he  then  took  part.  He 
wrote  several  articles  at  the  time  upon  the  question  of 
state  rights  which  arose  out  of  all  these  circumstances, 
which  were  afterwards  published  in  the  "  Nacional "  at 
Buenos  Ayres,  and  still  later  reproduced  in  a  pamphlet 
entitled  "  The  State  of  Siege  according  to  Dr.  Raw- 
son,"  who  was  Secretary  of  State.1 

The  future  of  San  Juan  became  secure  upon  the  dis- 
appearance of  El  Chacho,  who  had  plundered  it  more 
than  once  during  his  residence  in  the  neighborhood 
and  since  the  organization  of  its  mining  wealth  had  set 
it  on  the  road  to  wealth. 

The  National  Government  again  applied  to  Congress 
for  authority  to  appoint  the  Governor  of  San  Juan  to 
the  diplomatic  mission  to  the  United  States. 

i  At  this  moment,  1868,  a  change  of  cabinet  has  thrown  Dr.  Rawson  out 
of  this  position,  and  Colonel  Sarmiento  has  been  appointed  Secretary  of 
State  by  the  present  administration,  but  he  declines  to  take  the  place  in 
this  last  hour  of  its  existence. 
25 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

After  resigning  his  office  of  Governor,  with  the  view 
of  accepting  this  appointment,  he  went  to  Chili  to 
execute  a  similar  mission,  for  he  was  made  ambassador 
both  to  that  country  and  to  Peru  at  the  same  time. 

He  took  occasion,  while  at  Valparaiso,  to  protest 
against  the  unprecedented  conduct  of  Admiral  Pinzon 
in  seizing  the  Chincha  Islands.  This  protest  was 
couched  in  concise  language,  which  clearly  indicated, 
however,  how  the  principles  of  international  law  had 
in  this  instance  been  trampled  under  foot.  A  still 
greater  sensation  was  occasioned  in  Chili  and  in  Peru 
by  his  address  to  the  President  of  the  Chilian  Repub- 
lic upon  presenting  his  credentials,  due,  perhaps,  to  the 
expressive  phrases  in  which  this  discourse  recalled  the 
glories  of  the  War  of  Independence  against  Spain, 
the  common  glory  of  Peru,  Chili,  and  the  United 
Provinces. 

Colonel  Sarmiento's  resignation  of  the  government  of 
.San  Juan,  gives  occasion  for  the  remark  that  his  prin- 
ciples have  made  themselves  manifest  throughout  his 
public  career  by  the  repeated  withdrawal  from  situa- 
tions of  personal  advantage  whenever  his  retention  of 
them  would  have  interfered  with  a  public  interest  or  a 
sound  political  principle. 

When  sixteen  years  old,  he  had  quitted  the  manage- 
ment of  a  prosperous  establishment  to  join  an  army 
which  took  the  field  against  Facundo  Quiroga ;  in  1842 
he  gave  up  the  high  position  won  in  Chili  by  his  writ- 
ings, to  attach  himself  to  another  Argentine  army.  In 
1851  he  did  the  same,  to  join  the  final  war  against 
Rosas.  After  being  disappointed  in  the  ability  and 
disposition  of  General  Urquiza,  the  commander  of  the 


DISINTERESTED  POLITICAL  ACTION.  387 

expedition  against  Rosas,  to  give  a  settled  or  a  better 
government,  he  alone  of  all  his  countrymen  withdrew 
entirely  from  the  scene  of  operations,  as  has  been  be- 
fore mentioned,  in  order  neither  to  countenance  by  his 
presence  the  evil  rule  he  foresaw,  nor  to  attempt  a 
forcible  resistance  to  it. 

In  1856  he  had  twice  declined  a  seat  in  the  Congress, 
because  he  could  not  take  it  consistently  with  his  princi- 
ples, preferring  to  establish  himself  in  Buenos  Ayres 
without  any  public  office,  and  contend  alone  against  the 
then  mutilated  confederation.  In  1861  he  refused  the 
embassy  to  the  United  States  for  kindred  reasons,  and 
again  withdrew  from  the  ministry  on  learning  the  news 
of  the  violent  proceedings  at  San  Juan  and  the  conse- 
quent death  of  his  friend,  Dr.  Aberastain. 

Before  his  departure  from  the  Argentine  Republic, 
the  attention  of  the  world  had  been  called  to  the 
United  States  and  its  public  men  by  our  civil  war,  and 
by  European  attempts  to  introduce  monarchy  into 
Mexico.  He  still  watches  the  political  struggle  with 
the  deepest  interest  and  the  eye  of  a  philosopher 
and  a  legislator,  from  whom  we  may  learn  much.  A 
letter  addressed  of  late  to  Senator  Sumner  on  the 
occasion  of  the  suspension  of  the  Department  of  Edu- 
cation, may  well  put  to  shame  the  backwardness  of  our 
National  Congress  in  reference  to  that  cause  whose 
neglected  claims  are  the  strongest  possible  comment 
upon  the  superficial  education  of  our  people.1 

From  Chili  he  went  to  Peru.  During  his  stay  in 
Lima  he  was  invited  by  the  plenipotentiaries  sent  to 
the  South  American  Congress,  to  which  he  had  never 

1  See  Appendix. 


388  BTOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

been  accredited  by  his  government,  to  take  part  in 
its  deliberations,  and  give  it  the  benefit  of  his  knowl- 
edge. He  assisted  in  drawing  up  the  treaties  of  alli- 
ance agreed  to  by  the  accredited  plenipotentiaries,  and 
did  much  to  couch  the  alliance  in  such  terms  as  would 
least  impair  the  sovereignty  of  each  State. 

The  Chilian  press  has  preserved  the  memory  of  sev- 
eral remarkable  predictions  of  Colonel  Sarmiento  in 
respect  to  the  consequences  of  political  conditions  whose 
significance  his  sagacity  enabled  him  to  penetrate  with 
remarkable  insight,  as  the  events  proved. 

In  September,  1847,  he  assured  Senor  Carbello,  the 
Chilian  Minister  Plenipotentiary  at  Washington,  of  the 
close  approach  of  the  French  Revolution  which  took 
place  in  February,  1848,  at  which  latter  time  he  had 
returned  from  his  travels,  and  was  again  in  Chili, 
whence  he  wrote,  in  March,  before  any  tidings  could 
have  reached  Chili,  inquiring  for  the  details  of  an 
event  that  he  was  confident  had  happened.  His  pre- 
diction of  the  present  condition  of  the  United  States, 
published  last  winter  in  "  The  Commonwealth,"  de- 
served to  stand  side  by  side  with  those  prophecies  which 
Mr.  Sumner  collected  in  his  striking  article  in  u  The 
Atlantic."  At  that  time  he  traversed  the  United  States 
from  end  to  end,  saw  its  growing  prosperity  with  a 
fresh  eye,  —  fresh  from  the  apathy  of  South  America 
and  Spain ;  fresh  from  the  complicated  conditions  of 
the  most  advanced  countries  of  Europe,  where  he  had 
detected  the  clogs  in  the  machinery  of  despotic  and 
indeed  of  all  monarchical  or  personal  governments.  He 
also  detected  the  flaws  in  our  country,  and  saw  where 
liberty  was  travestied  by  the  continued  existence  of 


REMARKABLE  PREDICTIONS.  889 

slavery,  but  looking  through  all  these  obstacles  he 
confidently  predicted  that  in  twenty  years  this  would 
be  the  Great  Republic  of  the  world,  and  command  the 
respect  of  all  nations,  possessing  vitality  enough  to 
cure  its  own  internal  sores.  It  is  still  more  remarka- 
ble to  find  a  passage  in  his  travels  wherein,  speaking 
of  the  division  of  the  religious  world  into  sects,  he 
recognizes  the  principles  of  Roger  Williams  into  whose 
spirit  he  intelligently  enters,  and  prophesies  that 
America  is  a  land  where  eventually  all  sects  will  be 
merged  in  a  pure  practice  of  Christianity  which  shall 
repudiate  all  discordant  forms  and- show  the  spectacle 
of  a  religious  nation  in  which  only  the  principles  of 
Christianity  shall  be  recognized  without  its  forms. 

Perhaps  the  most  remarkable  instance  of  his  fore- 
sight was  his  celebrated  letter  to  General  Urquiza  in 
1860,  in  which  he  told  him  that  a  year  later  he  should 
require  him  to  answer  for  the  consequences  of  that 
invasion  of  San  Juan  which  ended  in  the  death  of  Dr. 
Aberastain.  In  1861,  and  as  it  happened  on  the  same 
day  of  the  same  month,  while  moving  on  San  Juan 
with  an  army,  he  addressed  a  letter  from  Villanueva 
to  General  Urquiza,  who  had  been  just  defeated  at 
Pavon,  to  remind  him  of  his  former  letter  which  had 
been  justified  by  the  event. 

During  his  late  residence  in  the  United  States,  Col- 
onel Sarmiento  has  given  all  his  leisure  time  to  the 
subject  of  education  and  to  the  preparation  of  papers 
descriptive  of  American  industry  and  American  prog- 
ress, and  of  valuable  works,  to  send  home  to  his 
country. 

An  able  "  Life  of  Lincoln,"  compiled  from  the  best 


390  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

authorities  then  known,  and  made  up  largely  of  his 
best  and  most  effective  speeches,  taken  as  far  back  as 
the  debates  upon  the  Mexican  war,  and  prefaced  by  a 
very  instructive  Introduction,  he  has  printed  and  sent 
to  South  America,  offering  it  "in  unlimited  quantities  " 
if  they  will  but  read  it.  The  skill  with  which  he  made 
prominent  in  it,  topics  upon  which  South  America 
needed  instruction,  was  very  marked.  The  burst  of 
sympathy  which  followed  in  the  Argentine  Republic, 
the  death  of  our  beloved  President,  was  quite  touching, 
and  has  been  but  little  known  and  appreciated  here. 
They  too  observed  public  mourning  for  the  event,  and 
their  hearts  were  opened  to  receive  the  instruction  his 
life  and  death  afforded.  Indeed  the  interest  with 
which  they  watch  our  career  is  very  worthy  of  note, 
and  the  noble  speech  and  defense  of  our  country  made 
by  Hector  Florence  Varela,  one  of  the  most  accom- 
plished of  their  citizens,  at  the  Peace  Congress  in 
Geneva  in  1867,  a  speech  for  which  General  Dix  sent 
him  an  official  note  of  thanks,1  show  how  intelligent  is 
their  appreciation. 

His  book  entitled  "  The  Schools  the  Basis  of  the 
Prosperity  of  the  United  States,"  is  a  large  work,  con- 
taining a  mine  of  information  and  wisdom.  Many  of 
its  papers  are  descriptive  of  South  American  wants,  to 
which  the  remedy  is  pointed  out  in  others  upon  North 
American  prosperity.  This  book  is  highly  spoken  of 
by  Mr.  Laboulaye,  as  well  as  by  the  best  patriots  and 
literary  men  of  South  America  wrho  have  had  the  good 
fortune  to  read  it ;  but  an  edition  of  a  thousand  copies, 

1  The  speech  and  the  note  have  been  published  in  the  April  number 
of  the  Boston  Radical. 


AMBAS  AMERICAS.  391 

which  Colonel  Sarmiento  sent  home  for  distribution, 
was  stored  in  the  government  house,  which  shortly 
after  was  burnt  down  with  all  its  treasures,  books,  and 
archives.  Only  a  few  individuals,  who  knew  the 
edition  was  there,  and  insisted  upon  having  copies,  ob- 
tained the  books.  The  catastrophe  seems  almost  sym- 
bolic of  the  disasters  that  ever  and  anon  befall  the 
devoted  Republic,  which  from  time  to  time  rises 
phoenix-like  from  its  own  ashes,  and  after  having 
vainly  fluttered  its  wings  for  a  flight  into  the  empy- 
rean, falls  back  to  earth  with  broken  pinion.  May  it 
prove  of  immortal  vigor  in  the  end,  like  the  patriot 
educator,  who  never  tires  of  scattering  the  good  seed 
broadcast,  sure  that  in  the  nature  of  things  it  is  inde- 
structible ;  that  a  little  vegetation  will  first  spring  up 
and  cover  the  naked  rock,  disintegrating  the  surface  by 
striking  its  slender  roots,  and  this  will  make  a  richer 
bed  for  the  next  seed  to  fall  upon,  till  at  last  the  desert 
shall  blossom  as  the  rose.  What  undying  faith  in  prin- 
ciples is  needed  to  keep  alive  even  such  indomitable 
energies  ! 

When  Colonel  Sarmiento  was  in  Europe  in  1847,  he 
was  solicited  to  make  the  u  Revue  des  Deux  Mondes  " 
answer  to  its  name  by  his  own  contributions  to  it.  He 
did  not  accept  the  offer,  but  the  last  publication  he  has 
undertaken  is  a  Review  of  his  own  called  "  Ambas 
Americas,"  or  "  The  Two  Americas,"  in  which  he 
purposes  to  embody  all  the  current  educational  litera- 
ture and  improvements  of  the  time.  He  has  sent 
home  a  large  edition  of  the  first  number  to  be  dis- 
tributed not  only  in  his  own  Republic  but  in  the  sister 
Republics.  Many  of  these  are  hardly  yet  acquainted 


392  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

with  the  movement  set  on  foot  in  Chili  and  the  Argen- 

o 

tine  Republic  thirty  years  ago.  In  such  portions  of 
the  country,  the  education  of  the  people  as  a  people  has 
never  yet  been  contemplated,  and  this  very  able  Review 
will  give  the  first  intimation  of  such  a  plan  to  many  of 
them.  He  hopes  for  assistance  from  this  country  to 
enrich  his  work. 

His  able  coadjutor,  La  Senora  Juana  Manso,  inspired 
by  his  example,  still  continues  in  her  able  editorship  of 
the  "  Common-School  Annals,"  founded  many  years 
since  by  Colonel  Sarmiento.  She  is  resolved  that 
her  compatriots  shall  not  want  for  the  best  theories 
upon  every  branch  of  the  subject.  In  one  of  her  last 
issues,  speaking  of  this  last  effort  of  Colonel  Sarmiento, 
she  joyfully  exclaims,  "  the  giant  is  on  his  feet  again  !  " 
Like  Antaeus,  of  old,  when  he  falls  to  the  earth,  he 
rebounds  from  it  with  new  motives  for  exertion,  and 
apparently  with  new  powers  of  execution.  The  foun- 
dation and  execution  of  the  "  Ambas  Americas "  was 
the  first  effort  which  Colonel  Sarmiento  made  after 
hearing  of  the  death  of  his  noble  and  only  son  in  the 
Paraguayan  war.  The  thought  of  what  the  sixty 
thousand  children  of  the  Republic  needed  drew  him 
out  of  his  deep  sadness  for  that  immeasurable  and  irrep- 
arable loss,  for  his  son  was  a  young  man  of  the  finest 
promise,  spoken  of  by  his  eulogists  as  the  "  hope  of  the 
nation,"  the  "  coming  man,"  the  "  idol  of  society,"  and 
young  as  he  was  (but  twenty-one),  "  the  intelligent 
and  pure  patriot  "  to  whose  future  career  the  most 
experienced  men  of  his  country  looked  with  expecta- 
tion and  confidence.  He  was  educated  by  his  father 
from  earliest  infancy,  and  was  just  about  to  graduate  at 


MEN  OF  SOUTH  AMERICA.  393 

the  University  of  Buenos  Ayres,  when  the  call  to 
fight  for  liberty  and  his  country  snatched  him  from  his 
studies.  The  motives  of  the  allies  in  that  war  were 
not  conquest,  for  they  mutually  agreed  not  to  occupy 
Paraguay,  but  simply  to  dethrone  the  tyrant  and 
restore  the  country  to  its  enslaved  people.1  The  mo- 
tive of  young  Captain  Sarmiento  and  his  Lieutenant 
Paz  who  fell  on  the  same  field  of  battle,  and  were 
brought  home  and  buried  together  in  the  tomb  of  the 
martyred  Varela,  by  request  of  his  sons,  was  as  pure 
as  those  which  actuated  our  noblest  young  men  to  fight 
for  the  liberty  of  all)  as  well  as  in  defense  of  their 
country. 

At  the  instance  of  his  government,  which  consisted 
of  his  personal  as  well  as  political  friends,  who  thought 
his  mind  might  be  temporarily  diverted  from  his  sor- 
rows by  a  change  of  scene,  Colonel  Sarmiento  visited 
the  French  Exposition  in  1867,  and  was  present  at  the 
awarding  of  medals  to  his  countrymen  for  their  supe- 
rior wools. 

Such  are  the  principal  events  in  the  life  of  a  states- 
man of  South  America,  of  which  we  have  known  so 
little.  Perhaps  they  have  many  more  men  of  merit, 
for  in  his  works  we  meet  the  names  of  many  who  have 
been  distinguished,  and  of  whom  he  speaks  in  terms  of 
high  respect,  such  as  the  Generals  of  the  War  of  In- 
dependence, Puyrredon,  San  Martin,  and  Las  Heras, 
statesmen  like  Don  Manuel  Montt,  ex-president  of 
Chili,  the  celebrated  litterateur  Bello,  the  virtuous 

1  It  is  not  clearly  understood  in  this  country  that  the  object  of  Lopez, 
tyrant  of  Paraguay,  was  not  to  found  or  defend  a  republic,  but  to  found  an 
empire  extending  over  Entrerios,  Corxientes,  and  Uruguay. 


394  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

Aberastain,  "a  Cato  assassinated  in  another  Utica," 
Dr.  Velez,  the  author  of  the  "  Codes  of  Law,"  of  which 
M.  Laboulaye  says  it  is  the  most  advanced  work  on 
that  subject  in  the  world,  with  many  other  personages 
too  numerous  to  name  and  of  whom  nothing  is  known 
here.  But  none  of  them  have  had  the  opportunity, 
like  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  to  acquire  that  knowl- 
edge which,  when  well  directed,  serves  to  change 
radically  the  condition  of  a  nation.  Even  the  circum- 
stance of  not  having  received  that  kind  of  education 
which  is  given  in  universities  may  have  served  to  pre- 
serve his  mind  free  from  those  leading-strings  of 
national  tradition  which  often  becomes  a  second  nature 
in  the  individual,  destroying  all  originality  and  perpet- 
uating errors  of  opinion.  A  man  who  has  contended 
with  barbarism  in  South  America,  and  has  studied  the 
sources  of  the  development  of  other  nations,  during 
residence  therein,  must  have  acquired  by  practice  and 
by  comparison,  rich  materials  for  thought,  and  a  fund 
of  ideas  of  no  common  order.  That  of  diffusing  edu- 
cation among  the  people,  from  which  nothing  has  dis- 
tracted him  for  thirty  years,  neither  war  nor  exile,  the 
poverty  of  his  private  life,  nor  the  seductions  of  exalted 
position,  has  given  a  special  character  to  his  life.  The 
present  minister  of  the  government  of  Buenos  Ayres, 
speaking  of  education,  in  his  report  to  the  legislature  of 
this  year,  says,  "  We  cannot  speak  of  education  without 
naming  Colonel  Sarmiento ;  "  and  this  saying  will  be 
often  repeated  in  different  parts  of  South  America,  for 
his  new  Review,  the  "  Ambas  Americas,"  a  work  spe- 
cially designed  to  impart  to  the  southern  hemisphere 
the  knowledge  and  the  ideas  that  have  been  acquired  in 


APPRECIATION  BY   HIS   COUNTRYMEN.  395 

the  northern,  will  spread  the  knowledge  of  his  charac- 
ter and  efforts,  as  well  as  of  his  great  theme,  Popular 
Education. 

It  may  be  said  of  him  in  reference  to  the  subject 
of  education,  as  was  said  of  a  contemporary  by  Plu- 
tarch, "  He  is  more  than  an  echo  of  Socrates  in 
the  practice  of  morality,  he  is  even  a  disciple."  Who 
like  him  has  during  a  long  life  pursued  the  one  aim  of 
saving  a  nation  from  decay  by  proposing  to  rouse  the 
dormant  moral  sentiments  of  the  human  soul  ? 

Will  his  example  be  followed  in  his  own  country  ? 
He  has  had  so  little  encouragement  in  his  laborious 
career  that  it  had  been  feared  few  would  be  found  to 
follow  him  in  a  path  so  bristling  with  difficulties,  but 
the  present  sympathy  of  his  countrymen,  whom  a  great 
calamity  has  waked  from  their  long  apathy,  inspires 
better  hopes. 

It  is  but  justice  to  do  so  much  honor  to  his  country, 
as  to  say,  that  by  what  we  have  seen  of  the  corre- 
spondence of  "  Ambas  Americas,"  and  through  the 
political  articles  of  the  New  York  papers,  it  is  evident 
that  there  are  everywhere  some  who  appreciate  the 
true  value  of  his  labors,  and  there  is  a  party  there  that 
understands  how  much  it  might  be  benefited  by  put- 
ting the  reins  of  government  into  such  able  and 
experienced  hands.  "  It  is  like  the  judgment  of  pos- 
terity," one  letter  says,  "  this  opinion  that  is  held  to-day 
of  the  same  ideas  and  efforts  which  ten  years  ago  met 
with  such  resistance." 

In  countries  so  little  experienced  in  republican  prac- 
tices as  South  America  must  be,  the  material  facts  of 
an  election  are  not  always  the  expression  of  the  most 


396  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH. 

dominant  opinion  of  the  best  minds,  but  rather  of  the 
accidental  influences  of  the  moment.  It  is  therefore 
doubtful  whether  Colonel  Sarmiento,  being  so  far  from 
the  theatre  of  party  movements,  can  effectually  serve 
his  country  otherwise  than  by  his  advice  or  his  writ- 
ings, but  that  they  are  now  esteemed  worthy  of  con- 
sideration there,  is  a  powerful  stimulus  to  his  persever- 
ance in  his  life-long  work. 


APPENDIX. 


New  York. 
To  MR.  SENATOR  SUMNER,  — 

HONORABLE  SIR,  —  Encouraged  by  the  distinction  with  which  you  have 
been  kind  enough  to  favor  me,  I  take  the  liberty  of  submitting  to  your 
enlightened  consideration  a  few  observations  upon  a  subject  which  will 
soon  be  brought  before  the  Senate,  and  in  whose  favorable  selection  not 
only  the  United  States,  but  republican  principles  everywhere,  and  the  civ- 
ilization of  the  popular  masses  are  deeply  interested.  I  have  heard  that 
the  discontinuance  of  the  National  Department  of  Education  has  been  re- 
solved upon,  and  if  the  measure  is  definitely  carried,  such  action  will  in 
my  judgment  produce  a  deplorable  reaction  against  the  growing  interest 
inspired  of  late  by  universal  education. 

For  statesmen  like  yourself,  my  suggestions  would  have  little  value,  if  I 
should  pretend  to  propose  new  plans  upon  subjects  on  which  North  Amer- 
icans are  so  far  in  advance  of  other  nations.  But  it  may  be  of  some  use 
to  know  the  impressions  made  upon  other  peoples,  and  my  feelings  in  this 
special  case  would  be,  as  it  were,  the  expression  of  their  common  aspira- 
tions. I  can  speak  for  South  America,  where  twenty  or  thirty  millions  of 
human  beings  are  agitated  by  a  chaos  of  revolutions,  which  conduce  to 
nothing,  btcause  certain  elements  of  government  are  wanting,  and  I  have 
recently  visited  Europe,  where  I  conversed  with  eminent  men  upon  the 
salutary  moral  influence  which  the  United  States  are  beginning  to  exer- 
cise. 

When  Europe  recovered  from  its  surprise  and  wonder  at  the  happy  issue 
of  the  past  civil  war,  and  at  the  triumph  of  republican  institutions,  — 
among  all  the  causes  incomprehensible  at  a  distance,  which  had  brought 
about  this  result,  it  discerned  one  alone  clearly,  and  that  was  that  behind 
Lincoln,  Congress,  and  Grant,  was  a  people  that  could  read  and  write. 

The  Republic  now  presents  itself  to  those  who  do  not  despair  of  liberty 
in  the  world,  with  the  school  as  the  basis  of  its  Constitution.  To  the 
political  economist,  the  North  American  School,  which  creates  the  producer, 
is  a  sufficient  explanation  of  the  prodigious  development  of  wealth  ;  and 


398  APPENDIX. 

in  view  of  the  governments  themselves,  the  sudden  appearance  of  the 
United  States  and  of  Prussia  as  great  nations,  is  closely  allied  to  their  sys- 
tems of  universal  education.  England  and  France  have  showed  of  late 
that  they  have  profited  by  the  lesson,  taking  more  interest  than  formerly 
in  the  diffusion  of  education.  This  is  the  clear  influence  exercised  by 
American  institutions  in  their  most  acceptable  forms. 

Mr.  Laboulaye,  the  distinguished  French  professor  who  has  done  so 
much  to  make  North  American  institutions  known  in  Europe,  not  long 
ago  presented  to  the  workmen  of  Lyons  the  portraiture  of  Horace  Mann 
as  the  only  man  comparable  to  Washington  in  the  part  which  he  took  in 
the  definitive  and  enduring  organization  of  American  democracy.  But  in 
the  greater  part  of  the  world  to-day,  if  the  influence  and  efficacy  of  North 
American  institutions  of  education  are  known  by  their  results,  very  few  if 
any  have  an  idea  of  their  mode  of  operation,  or  of  their  organization.  In 
England,  reports,  data,  and  ideas  are  frequently  sought  from  the  United 
States,  and  I  am  acquainted  with  the  fact  that  the  ex-minister  Ratazzi, 
desiring  to  organize  a  vast  system  of  education  in  Italy,  lamented  that  he 
had  not  within  reach  the  precise  documents  which  could  explain  the  sys- 
tems that  have  given  such  happy  results  in  the  United  States,  the  only 
country  which  can  serve  as  a  guide  in  this  respect.  The  speech  of  the 
Hon.  Mr.  Garfield  in  the  House  of  Representatives  in  favor  of  the  creation 
of  the  National  Department  of  Education,  has  been  reproduced  in  the 
presses  of  South  America  as  a  stimulus  toward  adopting  the  same  measure, 
and  another  of  Professor  Wickersham,  of  Pennsylvania,  has  had  the  same 
currency  in  France  and  South  America. 

If  the  United  States,  then,  owe  an  account  to  the  human  race  of  their 
own  experience  and  progress  in  certain  respects  which  are  important  to  the 
well-being  and  improvement  of  mankind,  just  as  they  received  from  Eng- 
land and  from  human  thought  many  of  the  principal  benefits  of  govern- 
ment, a  means  of  transmitting  the  knowledge  would  hereby  have  been 
established,  and  the  National  Department  of  Education  would  have  fulfilled 
that  useful  function,  beside  the  special  object  for  which  it  was  created.  It 
would  have  come  to  be,  as  it  were,  the  Department  of  International  and 
Foreign  Educational  Relations,  and  its  reports  and  data  would,  when  col- 
lected, have  been  a  fountain  of  information,  not  only  for  the  Southern 
States,  but  other  nations,  for  even  if  a  Report  of  Massachusetts  or  New 
York  Schools  can  be  obtained  in  Europe,  such  documents,  by  their  purely 
provincial  character,  are  wanting  in  the  authority  which  the  seal  of  the 
United  States  would  give  to  those  of  a  National  Department.  The  great 
inequality  with  which  education  is  actually  distributed  in  the  United 
States,  and  which  it  was  the  confessed  object  of  the  said  Department  to 
regulate,  would  have  given  an  opportunity  to  see  the  work  of  diffusion, 
and  the  application  of  means,  as  well  as  the  desired  results. 

With  some  diffidence,  I  will  venture  to  make  one  observation  wij,h  re- 


APPENDIX.  399 

spect  to  the  United  States  themselves.  The  greatest  antagonism  between 
the  Southern  States  and  the  Northern,  has  come,  in  my  judgment,  from  the 
Southern  following  the  same  plan  as  that  of  ancient  society  in  Europe  and 
South  America,  and  the  Northern  advancing  in  new  and  peculiar  paths. 
The  system  of  education  in  the  South,  limited  to  universities  and  colleges, 
was  that  of  England,  France,  Spain,  Italy,  and  the  South  America  of  to- 
day, leaving  the  majority  of  the  people  without  intellectual  preparation  and 
development.  The  visible  sign  of  the  advanced  North  American  system 
of  government  is  the  Common  School,  and  if  ever  the  South  shows  the  same 
visible  siyn,  its  regeneration  will  be  secured. 

For  the  Republicans  of  Eurdpe  and  South  America,  the  North  Americans 
have  added  a  new  organism  of  government  in  the  COMMON  SCHOOL,  thus 
solving  a  grave  difficulty  which  the  ancient  Republics  could  not  solve. 
The  North  American  Republic  is  a  government  which  under  a  written  Con- 
stitution is  carried  on  by  written  speech.  Athens,  Rome,  Venice,  Florence, 
were  republican  cities  (or  city  republics)  governing  byword  of  mouth  from 
the  Forum.  Washington  is  only  the  desk  on  which  the  laws  are  written 
and  where  the  reasons  are  given  for  the  law,  which  on  the  following  day 
the  people  in  California,  Chicago,  or  Richmond,  read  written.  Hence  the 
Republic  to-day  is  in  extension  indefinitely  dilatable,  as  the  people  gov- 
ern from  their  residence,  be  it  in  Egypt,  in  Capua,  or  in  Greece,  because 
they  can  read  that  which  is  sent  to  them  written.  If,  then,  Republican  in- 
stitutions are  to  be  diffused  throughout  the  world,  patriots,  instead  of  mak- 
ing revolutions,  would  begin  by  founding  common  schools,  in  imitation  of 
the  United  States,  as  the  cement  of  the  future  Constitutions.  If  Protest- 
antism, by  requiring  the  Christian  to  know  how  to  read,  in  order  to  put 
into  his  hands  the  Bible,  has  so  much  aided  by  this  means  alone,  the  devel- 
opment and  improvement  of  the  human  race,  the  SCHOOL  of  the  American 
Republic  will  make  useless  the  ancient  aristocracies  and  the  modern  repres- 
sive governments,  by  suppressing  the  popular  incapacity  and  its  legitimate 
fruits  —  revolutions. 

You  will  understand  why,  with  these  ideas  and  hopes,  I  deplore  the  sup- 
pression of  the  Rational  Department  of  Education,  which  proposes  to  be  a 
guide  at  home  and  abroad  to  the  laggards  of  the  South  in  the  United  States, 
and  would  have  been  a  Pharos  to  the  other  nations,  in  the  new  path  marked 
out  by  the  North.  So  persuaded  was  I  of  the  beneficent  influence  which  this 
department  was  destined  to  execute,  that  I  attended  the  meetings  of  Su- 
perintendents of  Schools  in  Washington  and  Indianopolis  to  add  my  voice 
to  it,  and  established  a  Spanish  Educational  Review  *  in  order  to  make  known 
at  large  in  South  America  the  important  data  which  this  public  office  would 
furnish.  If  the  preservation  of  the  National  Department  of  Education 
does  not  interest  you  much  for  practical  results  in  the  South,  which  have 
not  yet  been  put  to  the  proof,  I  think  you  cannot  be  indifferent  to  the  ad- 
1  Ambas  Americas. 


400  APPENDIX. 

vantage  that  other  nations  would  reap  from  its  labors  —  nations  as  my  own 
in  the  dark  upon  the  mode  of  operation  of  the  American  Common  School 
system.  May  the  hope  of  benefiting  millions,  and  of  ameliorating  the 
condition  of  the  human  race  everywhere,  induce  you  to  rekindle  and  keep 
forever  burning  the  torch  which  is  to  diffuse  that  light. 

I  have  the  honor  to  subscribe  myself,  etc., 

D.  F.  SARMIENTO. 


ERRATA. 


Page  30th,  line  1st,  for  Christian  read  Chilian. 
"       "      line  16th,  for  Ariste  read  Triste. 

"  130th,  line  2d  from  below,  for  crisis  social  read  social  crisis. 

"  136th,  line  9th,  for  fifty-foot  soldiers  read  fifty  foot-soldiers. 

"  248th,  line  4th,  for  Agacucho  read  Ayacucho. 

"  255th,  line  1st,  for  mountaineers  read  montoneros. 

"  262d,  line  1st,  for  mountaineers  read  montoneros. 

"  264th,  line  17th,  for  sacreligious  read  sacrilegious. 

"  276th,  lines  4th  and  5th  from  below,  for  pyramids  read  efesertf  o/ 


Page  284th,  line  13th,  for  cathedral  read  pulpit. 

"     308th,  line  1st  from  below,  strike  out  Doctor. 

"     321st.  line  8th,  for  Jachel  read  Jackal. 

"     322d,  lines  6th  and  8th,  for  Leprida  read  Laprida. 

"     323d,  lines  3d  and  8th  from  below,  for  Rickard  read  Richard. 

"     327th,  lines  12th  and  13th  from  below,  for  Antonio  read  Nazario. 

"    330th,  line  7th  from  below,  for  Brinuela  read  Brizuela. 

"     343d,  line  9th,  for  Uspellata  read  Huspellata. 

"       "      line  10th,  for  Sagrana  read  Lagrano. 

"     345th,  line  15th  from  below,  for  -ftaeftoj  read  Kadies. 

"     353d,  lines  1st  and  5th,  for  Bolivar  read  Bolivia. 

"        for  under  whom  read  where. 

"     359th,  line  16th  from  below,  for  Durque  read  Durqui. 

"     360th,  line  8th,  for  Sanatuolas  read  /Sara  Nicolas. 

"        "  "        from  below,  for  Durque  read  Durqui. 

"     367th,  line  9th,  for  Durque  read  Durqui. 

"     373d,  line  15th,  for  Belgrave  read  Belgrano. 

"     374th,  line  3d  from  below,  for  Dr.  Francia,  the  tyi-ant  of  Paraguay 
spent,  read  /Vow*  France  were  sent. 
Page  374th,  line  2d  from  below,  for  zw  read  to  foster. 

"     378th,  line  16th,  for  Commander-in-chief  'read  CUtf  -of  -staff. 
'     585th,  line  1st,  for  Ccmmander-in-chieJ'  read  Prtsident. 


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